Requiem for the Holy Grail
by 400PercentSync
Summary: Giorno Giovanna, with his dream of being a gang-star, is sent to the Throne of Heroes. How will the world of Type-Moon be affected by this bizarre man?
1. Chapter 0

Chapter 0

He remembered it like it was yesterday. The power that coursed through the world in it's wake is a feeling that Giorno will never forget. The universe has completely reset itself. Using Gold Experience Requiem, he had survived this event, saving his life. He had grown up in this new world, without a gang, without a family, without anything. He had defeated the King, but he felt no satisfaction. Giorno became a gang-star, his only wish in the world, but it was taken away from him by something he had no control over. He died in this new world a broken soul, something his Stand had no power to turn to zero. He died with a wish, a wish to become a gang-star again, no matter what the cost, no matter what the stakes. Giorno Giovanna, the son of Dio Brando and Jonathan Joestar, _would _obtain his dream.

Giorno remembered waking up in this world between worlds. He doesn't remember most of what it looked like, except that it felt _empty_, soulless. He was bombarded constantly with information, most of which he couldn't parse. He recognized some of the technology he used in the new world he was thrusted upon, but some of what he saw was outright bizarre. Strange concepts such as Magic and Heroes filled his head, and soon, after an unclear amount of time: years, centuries, millenia, days, minutes or seconds, he had no idea, but he put the pieces together. In his world, he had a legend. He was Giorno Giovanna, gang-star and the killer of the King. When his world has reset, the legend stayed attached, and thus, when he died in this new world, he was able to be set upon the Throne. A mythical place where legends resided.

He had many thoughts about this. According to this constant stream, if summoned, he would take place in a war. A war in which the victor would be given a grail, one that could grant any wish. A nigh-omnipotent Grail that could grant any wish? Giorno was _very_ interested in such an object. If he could become a gang-star again…

Looking over his "stats" he was pretty much baseline human, although, he had fused with his stand. Unsure about how to feel about this, he quickly decided on nothing. He would feel nothing. This fusion would allow him to be strong. Strong enough to become a gang-star again. Giorno, this recent addition to the Throne of Heroes, had no idea what the extent of the powers that was given. His stand had the ability to to control life, and could turn something as simple as a bullet, into a tree. He was not sure if his Requiem abilities were intact either, but if he was to become truly a contender in this war, he would certainly need it. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell if he _would_ get summoned for these wars, but destiny is a fickle thing, and a JoJo is her favorite toy.

With trepidation for a coming battle he had no idea he would even be participating in, he heard it. And it was music to his ears.

_Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg._

Something felt off though about this summoning..

_The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate._

...it felt wrong...

_Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill)._

_Repeat every five times._

...as if it were for someone else..

_Simply, shatter once filled._

...something, somewhere broke...

――――_I announce. _

_Your self is under me, my fate(doom) is in your sword. _

..like he did not belong..

_In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer._

...However...

_Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead._

..He would Fight...

_You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance ―――__！_

...and He would win.

The Throne shifted, and a power beyond normal human comprehension sprung forth. The ritual meant for another man with golden hair, with a power that had the potential to end the war quickly had ended, and in the summoning circle, a hero emerged, clad in the same flamboyant clothes he was known for. The spirit stood up to his full height, his facial features unlike that of the famous David statue, regarding the obvious magus in front of him. After a cold stare into the eyes of this man, he asked a question. One that would forever alter the fate of everyone around him, much like every Jojo in the past.

"I ask of you, are you my master?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka had never been more confused in his life.


	2. Chapter 1

-Chapter One: Vento Aureo-

The Tohsaka head was perplexed. It had been an hour since he had summoned the _boy_, and was not sure how to make of the current situation. The strange servant was strangely not boastful, and he only spoke of a few things, things that Tokiomi would have to remember for the future conflict.

To start with, the servant was only seventeen. A child. Yet, the boy had not shown any qualities of someone his age. The second he had looked into the servant's eyes, he saw a cold stare, one fitting of a middle-aged magus such as himself, and not a child. He might have have been slightly impressed, if he wasn't so furious. He had meant to summon the King of Kings! The most powerful servant! But Tokiomi would not show weakness. He would not falter. He would find the Root, with or without this _complication._

There was one thing that was bothering him the most though. This servant had not said anything about Kirei, and Kirei had not said anything about the servant. He had quickly dismissed the priest, wanting to talk to the flamboyant servant alone. He started with a simple question.

"What is your name?"

"My name..?" The strange golden haired boy replied, in a tone that bordered on intense stoicism, or just sheer boredom.

"I am the senior magus of this land, Tokiomi Tohsaka; please tell me, which heroic spirit do I address?" he politely repeated the question, bowing slightly in the small chance he had offended this unknown heroic spirit for being too blunt.

"I doubt you'd know even if I gave you my life story" the mysterious servant replied. "I could not tell you how I even became a heroic spirit in the first place."

"In order to fully utilize the abilities of the servant, the Master must know the hero's true name; shouldn't you at least be aware of this?" Agitation spread throughout Tokiomi's words; already his servant was defying him on even simple matters, that accursed Independent Action skill of the Archer class no doubt.

"Fine, for what little worth it will be, I am Giorno Giovanna, The Boss of Passione."

Passione? Giovanna? Tokiomi had to admit he was at a loss, recalling no heroes of Italy with such name.

Tokiomi paused to fully take in the appearance of his opposite. Strange blue clothes, with multiple ladybug-like pendants scattered across his body. The clothing had a hole in the upper torso and...was the servant posing? The boy's right hand was pulling on the hole on his chest, while his left arm was half raised in the air, facing in no direction in particular. His hair was flowing toward the right, carried by an unseen wind, making him look unorthodox. Most certainly not a mage. The Tohsaka head would make sure Rin never saw this strange man. He did not want any of it rubbing off on the impressionable girl.

He mentally sighed, and decided that now was the best time to check his servants stats. D strength? That was certainly not pleasing.. He paused. He checked again. He paused again. Something was not right.

"Archer, Your stats are… remarkably low for a servant of the archer class, with the exception of your agility, which surpasses even what is expected of Assassin, and tell me, how does one with stats more fitting of an ordinary human then a servant possess a Noble Phantasm that exceeds the limits of my understanding."

Had the ability scores, appearing in a ranking system of letters much like school grades, not been clearly visible inside Tokiomi's mind he wouldn't have believed them. This unassuming _boy_ had two absurd stats, both measuring in at EX, unheard of for such an unknown hero.

But a magus was trained to deal with absurd situations, the very nature of a magus was to defy logic, he quickly made peace with the newfound strangeness in his life.

What remained was a decision on Tokiomi's part. Did he ask his servant with A rank Independent Action what his trump card was and risk angering him when he didn't even know the extent of his power, or did he leave the Servant to make his own choice of when to use it. This choice was made for Tokiomi, when unexpectedly the Servant Archer revealed his ability without hesitation.

"I was born with an absolute power, power over _life itself" _he plucked one of the large ladybug pendants off of his shirt and whispered, so quiet Tokiomi had to reinforce his ears to hear it, "Gold Experience", and his servant's hand was enveloped in a golden glow that surrounded the pendant. As the glow subsided in his hand, the object was no longer a pendant, but a large monarch butterfly.

The butterfly flew around Tokiomi a few times before landing back in Giorno's hand.

"An impressive construct, but it's by no means the power of life, such a thing is beyond even the true magics of this world, Gaia would not stand for it." Tokiomi protested. "How long does such a construct last, surely only a few days at mos-"

"It is no construct and has no time limit," Interrupted Giorno. "It is a living thing like any other and will remain as such until I desire it not to be." As if on cue the butterfly returned to where it had been on his clothing before as a pendant, transforming back into the object it once was.

Tokiomi was beside himself! Although he was upset he had not summoned Gilgamesh, the sheer _potential_ his servant gave him was immense. Although the man did not show it, his magus curiosity was bouncing up and down, ready to see more, to learn more.

"Show me more." And Giorno Giovanna did.

* * *

><p>An hour later, and multiple animals lay around his grew more amazed, as larger and larger creations were born. A frog from a shovel, a rat from a jewel, and a tree from a book. However, this ability, while without peer, was not exactly worthy of the nigh unobtainable EX rank.<p>

"Archer, this _Gold Experience_ as you call it is indeed a marvelous ability, but it is not what I inquired about when I asked you of your EX phantasm." Tokiomi examined one of the gems that had just recently been a small white mouse and found nothing changed about it, it was the same gem he had used to store mana in, and his power remained inside it even after the transformation.

"Ah, you must be referring to _that_; I'll admit I'm unsure of even its limits myself, I regret I can't show you this ability here and now, it requires a certain condition be met to use it." The Servant Giorno replied, having struck another bizarre pose where he bent forward and held his hands in a heart shape by his waist.

"Oh, and what condition would that be?" Tokiomi asked, excitement filled his body; but he refused to show it. If his servant's Gold Experience was ranked A ,with the power to create and shape life, he couldn't possibly fathom what his EX ranked ability could possibly be.

"The condition is easy, I must be attacked; only then will you see the power of my _Requiem._" Tokiomi felt his servant was laughing, but his face remained unchanged; like a finely chiseled piece of artwork. "Well Master, will you see it for yourself?"

"I have no intentions of fighting my servant or _any_ servant myself, but if you can demonstrate your power this way I suppose I have no choice. But not here, my workshop is far too stocked with jewels to use powerful attack magic within it."

They had arrived in Fuyuki park in the dead of night, no one would be around and even if they were, the thick layer of fog made even Tokiomi's magically reinforced eyes struggle to see very far ahead.

"Come at me master, I'll take the best you've got."

Tokiomi quickly obliged, he was too curious at this point to raise any further questions. Using his staff to trace a complex pattern in the air, he fired a fairly powerful fire spell. Much to his surprise, the same golden light that emitted when transforming an object traveled toward his servants hand and around his arm. With agility that spoke volumes, he _punched_ the fireball.

"Gold Experience!" There was a brief pause. "Requiem!" and the fireball was no more. One of the strongest fireballs he had ever conjured, gone in nary even an instant.

"That, Master," Giorno looked up, the golden light fading from view, "Is the power of my noble phantasm." Tokiomi was stunned, for the umpeenth time that night. How powerful was this "Gold Experience," and what was it's limit?

"This is my Stand, my Requiem; it turns any effect or action to 'zero', an unbeatable counter move that cannot be blocked"

"Stand?"

Giorno Giovanna, for the first time since he was summoned, cracked his cold exterior and smirked. "Aa, my Vento Aureo."

* * *

><p>Giorno was utterly perplexed. Having been summoned into this war was already a chance he had no idea he could even get, and he was lucky enough to be given a more than powerful enough master. A master greatly interested in his powers. He internally laughed. Another boastful King? Possibly. If worse came to worse, he could just Requiem his way out of any issue, and would play along with his new Master. When he found that his master was a bit <em>too <em>interested in his powers, the Boss knew that he was in for another bizarre adventure. From what he could gather, and with the grail's immense knowledge being poured into him, his powers were extremely unusual among the magus society.

Life. Something that in this new world was impossible to obtain the secrets of. He remembered in his old world multiple people searching for multiple answers. None so much as his father. While he entertained Tokiomi with his Gold Experience, he lamented the loss of a lifetime partner. One that had been with him through thick and thin. But as always, he would persevere, he was the Boss after all. Giorno Giovanna would take this loss and mould it. Shape it like he did inanimate objects and give it life.

His stony face never changed, but his emotions inside were constantly swirling, twisting. He had just disclosed the ability of his powers, something that no sane stand user would. But was it for a greater cause? Would telling his new _master, _he hated the word, be worth it in the end? The son of Dio could only wait and see, and he was very patient.

* * *

><p>Kirei and with him, a golem created by his servant, Caster, was watching the "battle" between Tokiomi and his strange new servant. To him, it seemed like both summonings had gone astray. He had meant to summon Assassin, but due to whatever external cause, had him summon this strange servant. Luckily for both parties, the powers of his servant were excellent for what he and Tokiomi had planned.<p>

His servant had the power to create a large amount of golems, and because of his extremely early start, Caster had been able to create a veritable army of quasi-servant level constructs. With this power, he could easily scout without the worry of his servant going into direct combat.

"Master.." The servant spoke through the golem

Kirei turned to acknowledge the servant.

"This servant Archer's ability goes against the most basic principles of logic, even for a magus."

"Hoh, and how exactly does it do that?"

"This attack… Requiem, has no discernable effect, nothing about the servant changed from before or after, yet Tokiomi's spell was clearly and utterly erased. Though to call it an erasure isn't quite accurate."

Kotomine Kirei contemplated the words of his servant, an attack that wasn't an attack, an erased spell that was not erased. This was utterly bizarre even among all the things he'd learned as Tokiomi's apprentice.

"It's unclear how, but I would theorize that cause and effect were altered, changing the 'effect' of Tohsaka's spell to be the result we see now, a complete lack of effect. The fact we saw the spell at all is due to the paradox of both outcomes colliding," continued the Servant Caster.

"Hoh, so Archer's attack was unreadable because the end result is one where he didn't even need to use it? Very intriguing; could this effect a Noble Phantasm even?"

"Unknown, Master, More observation is required to come to any conclusions."

"Keep an eye on him from a distance until we can learn more of his abilities, It's too soon to make any moves."

The Golem nodded, bowed, and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Kotomine alone with his thoughts; a spark deep inside of him was ignited by this strange servant, for the first time Kirei thought something was actually interesting for a change. He had hoped to seek the answers to what he sought by confronting the magus killer Kiritsugu Emiya, but perhaps this servant would aid in this as well.

Numerous new thoughts swirled through his head as he quietly exited the foggy park, had his Teacher or Servant noticed his presence they hadn't showed it, the inner workings of Kirei's own plans continued in silence.

* * *

><p>Giorno was quickly filled in on the plan that this Kotomine Kirei and his master had set up. A servant would be coming to the house and its mission would be killing the lone Tohsaka in the house. A golem, in the guise of Caster, who would be assuming the role of the Assassin class. Because no one had known who had summoned the Assassin, Kirei would be pretending to be using one, in order to hide Caster and himself in the church. It was a large gamble, the young one knew, but it was well worth the risk according to Tokiomi. He would wait, and provide any onlookers with a good show.<p>

Soon, his mark had reared its face, clad in all black, the golem looked much like an Assassin would. Giorno looked down toward the Tohsaka garden. An opulent mess, not one for a gang-star, but he had to admit that it _looked _nice enough. The magic in the garden however was something else. Other than the fireball, Giorno was not well versed in this worlds supernatural. So when he saw the golem clumsily make his way through these 'bounded fields' he could only wonder what their actual purpose was. Oh well, the show was about to start.

* * *

><p>"If you've come into my master's territory so brazenly… you must be an enemy."<p>

The 'assassin' looked up, frightened, he had not been expecting to meet the servant face to face. The strangest thing, was that the man was...posing? His legs spread wide, upper body leaning to the left, his left hand outstretched forward; pointing at Assassin while being covered in glowing golden energy, while his right hand rested on his thigh. Needless to say, the servant looked extremely out of place.

Everyone watching bore witness to this strange character, taking in every detail. The one thing that every eye caught however, was how _young_ this servant was. He didn't look more than eighteen years old. The servant jumped down, now standing in front of the faux assassin.

"Will you answer?" The golden light spread further up his arm, cementing other's thoughts about it being a phantasm. The golem smirked, and swung his arm to try and catch him off guard.

"Mudada" One of the dazzling arms grabbed the attacker before his attack could connect. Immediately the assassins willpower seemed to vanish, before he sunk to his knees gasping for breath. The strange teen then grabbed his opposers head. And with his stony expression still intact, he _squeezed_. Unknown to everyone else, Giorno had injected an immense amount of life into the brain of Caster's golem. The servant heard two words before an unholy scream tore through its throat, and the golem's head shattered into pieces, providing the illusion that the servant class Assassin had been defeated. "Blood" had splattered in all directions, and the body returned to the world as prana. The servant wiped the blood off his precious clothes, and slowly walked back inside the estate, none the wiser of the large audience that had been privy to the scene.

* * *

><p>"..So, how was Assassin killed?" A beast of a man asked his companion.<p>

"... Eh?" The man faltered, almost not expecting the question, though it had been an obvious one.

"Yeah, the Servant who beat Assassin. Didn't you see him?"

"Must be that Tohaka Servant... I guess. Looked weak but extremely aggressive, showing off with a strange goldy arm thing. It took only an instant, so I'm not sure..."

"Oh well, never mind. That goldy-man or whatever, what impression did he give you?"

"Ruthless"

The beast smiled and laughed heartedly, finally, things were getting interesting.

* * *

><p>Gio returned to Tokiomi swiftly, "It has been carried out."<p>

Tokiomi quietly laughed, "That was quite a display Archer, I hope you know how to use a touch of subtlety on your next endeavor."

"Subtlety, right.." The servant muttered to himself.

"What now master?"

"Observe." Tokiomi waved him off. However..he truly wanted to see what his Servant was capable of, and he decided to do something he would normally _never _allow himself to do. "However, if you feel it is necessary to engage, do so at your discretion." And with that, Giorno Giovanna left immediately, and according to Tokiomi's "sight" was heading toward a large servant concentration, the Fuyuki Port.


	3. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2: -

He had just arrived in time to see the fight. The servants Lancer and Saber were duking it out, faster than a normal human's eye could track. His clothes were still wet with blood, a shame, but he would make do. With his masters instructions in mind, he sat in spirit form, watching, waiting. There were numerous 'guest' servants playing the audience with him as well. Giorno sensed a golem hiding in the shadows, a massive man on a massive red bridge, and...a small girl? He had only seen the servant out of the corner of his eye, but from what he had seen, it left him confused.

Giorno knew he was a young servant, but this one was something else. Because of his lightspeed reaction time, the glimpse he had at this girl might as well been a full show. The gray haired girl was wearing almost no clothing at all, and the boy felt _dirty_ looking at her. Before he could draw any conclusions, the servant vanished, and the already thick fog increased. The mood was apprehensive, and he barely noticed - or cared - that the fight had dramatically increased its tempo.

He had barely watched the battle of titanic proportions in front of him, and from the little he had seen, he was fairly impressed. Giorno was used to stand combat, so this hand-to-hand style was unnatural for him, but because he had lost his Gold Experience, he had to compensate. Luckily the abilities his stand left for him was more than enough to win this war.

Of course this all changed when a voice broke out through the fighting.

"Enough of this playtime, Lancer." Gio did not hear the response, nor did he care, until the noble phantasms came out. The two lances being used were unwrapped and he could only stare blankly at them. He was not of this world, he did not know what the significance of these weapons were, but he could appreciate the power behind them. This Lancer was strong. The servant hacked away at Saber, the two lances moving with speed not human. Soon enough, the invisible sword that the girl had been using was seen. Piece by piece. Giorno's stony exterior did not fade, even as Lancer struck Saber with one of his weapons. But the fight continued, Saber and Lancer kicking up so much dirt, it was dirtying the white-haired woman's clothes.

Wait.

What?

He had just noticed this woman now, and he felt like kicking himself in the head for it. She was an obvious beauty, with the longest white hair, and the most otherworldly red eyes. Was she Sabers Master? She seemed to be calling out to the blonde servant once in awhile. Giorno briefly heard the two servants names while he was mentally checked out, Diarmuid, and a supposed King of Knights. He only knew one King in his life, and as such was not a big fan with anyone else with the title. Unfortunately, these names meant nothing to him, hopefully his Master could make some use with the information. Giorno decided to pay attention then, as he realized that these people were potential enemies, and his Master would want to know better their powers. Until of course..

"...A chariot...?"

From the south-east, a massive chariot was pulling forward in the skies. Being drawn forward by bulls, standing on..lightning? No matter, this was another servant, and an apparent powerful one at that. The chariot landed. The man that he had sensed on the bridge had appeared.

"Both of you, put down your arms. A king comes!"

"My name is Alexander, King of Conquerors! I am participating in this Holy Grail War and received the class of Rider!" the beast boasted.

That was easy.

A small diminutive man sprang forth beside the beast from the south-east. His master? A man just a few years his senior? Very interesting. The servants then started talking together, and Giorno barely paid attention, instead focusing on the man himself. Well-built and huge, the servant Rider looked imposing. His build reminded him of his father, except this monster had short red hair, with a beard to match. A king indeed. He barely noticed when the servants tensed, and the master of Lancer spoke again.

"Oh? It is you, of all people." The statement was directed at the boy by Rider's feet, and the aforementioned master trembled like a sick puppy.

"What a pity. It's a shame, really. I actually wanted my poor beloved student to be happy. Waver, someone as mediocre as you only deserves to possess the calm and stable life of commoners."

So the Master's name was Waver? He would keep that in mind.

"Well, I can't help it, Waver. Let me give you some extra tutorials. The true meaning of the slaughter between magi – I will pass the terror and the pain of the kill onto you without any reservation. You should be proud."

Ruthless. Giorno wanted to like it, but the sheer arrogance that crept into this unseen masters tone was unsettling, almost annoying. The servant of Waver went on to explain that even if this Master was his, he would still choose the boy, for his courage. Or something like that. Of course, Giorno could only stand stock still when the next words came tumbling out of the large man.

"Come on out! There must be others. Friends that are hiding in the darkness and spying on us!"

Muda. Muda muda muda. He thought he had done a good job hiding, but it was useless. This Rider was good at pissing people off, whether or not the servant even realized.

"What a shame. What a shame, really! The heroes of might gathered at Fuyuki! Seeing the prowess displayed here by Saber and Lancer, does it not invoke any sentiments from you? Having a name that deserves praise, yet concealing yourself and spying in secrecy; what cowardice. Even Heroic Spirits would be troubled upon hearing this, huh?"

The man laughed.

"The Heroic Spirits invited by the Holy Grail, gather here at this moment! For those cowards that fear to show their faces, spare yourself the humiliation that Alexander, King of Conquerors, would deal to you. Prepare yourself!"

'Tokiomi?'

'Do whatever you please, no one in this war will touch us.'

Giorno smirked. And jumped down from his perch.

* * *

><p>No one was very amused. Even Tokiomi, who told Giorno to do whatever, was sitting apprehensively, listening to Kirei from the church. This was bad. Very bad. But he still smirked. He still gave a short bark of a laugh. He would not worry now. He would worry after he reached the Root.<p>

* * *

><p>Much to the surprise of the servants gathered - Rider included - a servant did appear. The servant was certainly interesting to say the least. The man had golden hair that happened to look as if it was flowing in the wind, strange blue clothes with a massive heart shaped hole. All in all he looked pretty fucking fabulous. The strange...boy...posed with incredible agility, EX even, one hand pulling at the hole, with another hand out to the side.<p>

"I am Giorno Giovanna, Gang-Star, Boss of Passione."

Gang-Star?

Lancer spoke first, perplexed, "..Giorno..Giovanna? I am not familiar with the name nor legend."

The man's facial expression did not change.

"Not many are."

Saber spoke next, probably more confused than Lancer. "What is your class?"

"Class?" The boy's stony face did not change, but his eyes betrayed his confusion."Ah right, I am of the Archer class."

The entire audience to the boy, sans Rider, felt apprehensive. This was the servant who nonchalantly killed Assassin, quite brutally infact.

"You were the one who killed Assassin?"

The boy slowly nodded.

"Well," Everyone turned toward Rider who was smiling a smile so large, they figured he would tear his face in two. "You certainly are an interesting one! Even for a child."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the inside, Giorno was a bit torn. On one hand, were it not for the protection that Gold Experience gave him, he would be standing face-to-face with veritable giants. Heroes of old. But these servants did not have heroic disposition. But in the end it did not matter. On the other hand, he had not had a fight in quite some time, and was itching to use his newfound powers. They were still strong, but they were in his way. Oh well.<p>

Wait.

Something was wrong.

He had light-speed reactions, but that did not prepare him enough to see a massive black light post flying toward him. He stood dumbfounded, barely able to get the words out, as he was slammed in the face with it, sending him flying.

* * *

><p>The other servants were equally unprepared for the massive amount of prana that filled the air. In a blink, something had slammed into the new servant, and in his place, a new black-clad servant stood.<p>

"... Hey, King of Conquerors. Did you invite that guy too?"

"Invited, eh? That one doesn't look like he'll take any negotiation, ugh. The other one seemed much more promising"

It was now a royal rumble.

Of course, Lancer and Rider's quasi lightheartedness came to a stop, as two massive elephants stormed down the docks, slamming into this new servant. Everyone turned, toward where Giorno had landed. Virtually untouched, he stood up, his hands glowing a faint gold color, the same color used when he killed Assassin. His stony exterior became more like diamond than its usual concrete, as he _stalked_ forward toward the Berserker. Much to the surprise of the people gathered, when the servant moved forward, life was born beneath him. All sorts of flowers and grass bloomed at his feet, a colorful contrast to the drab colors of the dock.

Rider whistled and let out a laugh. "So this man has power over life? A power like that could fit well into my army!" Lancer and Saber stood quiet, content to watch this battle unfold.

The two elephants screamed, disappearing into golden light as they landed into the water around the docks. The mad servant appearing in the cloud of dust the two beasts had left behind. Everyone took notice however, of the weapon in his hand. It was a tusk of one of the elephants, corrupted with a sort of black energy.

"... That bastard, is he really a Berserker?"

To take down an elephant is one thing, but to rip off its tusk, and wield it like a normal sword, was something that no mad beast could do. Of course this was negated by the unholy yell coming from the servant, which shook its armor violently. Then, the servant rushed toward Giorno, who was still lumbering forward.

On the inside, Giorno was furious. This mad beast would dare attack him?! He realized too late that he had to _say _his stands full name now, or the attack would still connect. Luckily, he had said enough of it, and a small tree had grown in place, shielding Giorno for most of the hit. His blood was heating up. His eyes blazed with an absolute _coldness_, that even Kiritsugu - the only one paying real attention to every facet of the fight - was wary. Giorno did not stop. He did not waver. Even as the Berserker charged toward him.

"Muda, Muda, Muda." whispered Giorno, content in continuing to walk forward.

Berserker raised the Tusk, corrupted by some unholy force - a phantasm perhaps - and _swung_.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅！"

"GOLD EXPERIENCE"

Even Rider was surprised by what happened.

Giorno, his arm fully glowing that gold color, had caught that tusk in his hand, and _crushed_ it. Berserker, unsure of what to do, tried jumping away, but, in mid-flight, had his leg caught by the same glowing arm.

It was a second of sentience, but it was enough. When Giorno used Gold Experience on a human, its normal functions would speed up, even under extreme duress- in this case, mad enhancement. Because of this, the Berserker had one clear thought of clarity as Archer grabbed onto his boot.

"Damn."

Not even bothering to pose, Giorno Giovanna, _slammed_ the corrupted servant into the docks, and, because of Gold Experiences strength, still had a good hold on the mad dog. Giorno, his face now more cold than ever, repeated his actions, utterly thrashing this servant. Of course, it had to end sometime.

Archer let go of the servant.

He paused, the audience on the edge of their figurative seats. When Giorno looked toward the other servants a myriad of different things took place. Saber tightened her grip around her sword and stood even closer to her master. Rider's smile got _bigger,_ and Lancer just smirked.

Giorno put a hand to his ear, to emulate speaking with an earpiece. "Understood."

He then posed, one hand behind his back, and the other hand was in front of his face, all fingers splayed apart. After an almost uncomfortable few seconds, the servant disappeared, obviously heading back to his Master.

Rider laughed a jovial laugh. "Amazing! Simply Amazing! An Archer that uses his fists! What else will this war have in store for us, eh Master?"

Then Berserker stood back up.

* * *

><p>Giorno reappeared at his Master's Estate, already knowing a good deal about why he was being called back.<p>

"A great show!" was the first thing he heard as he walked toward the basement. Giorno slowly nodded, as he saw his master, all traces of anger leaving him as quick as they had come.

Tokiomi sighed, if he truly wanted to, Giorno could have possibly ended the war right then and there. However, he did not know the extent of his servant's powers, and thus did not want to risk him in prolonged battle, especially with such a large crowd. Tokiomi quickly explained this to him. Much to his pleasure Giorno took it fairly well, and Tokiomi was again pleased to not have to be so reverential around this servant. He had an image to keep up after all.

"Master, I have some news regarding Assassin, the _real_ Assassin" Stated Giorno in his calm but blunt style. "I believe I saw the servant at the docks, no sign of the master however, but this is expected of the class."

"This is good news, tell me any information relevant to Assassin, I was watching through your eyes during the fight with Berserker and thus have no need to hear of that."

"Well, it appears the servant is female, young, _very _young, with gray hair." Giorno paused a moment and looked away from Tokiomi, "And dressed a bit, well… strange."

"A female assassin, this is certainly a puzzle, all the previous assassins summoned have been Hassan-i-Sabbah, it is no matter to us however. We stand no chance of losing."

"It's only a matter of time before we have complete victory, Now then Master; what's out next move?' Giorno entered into a pose, legs spread wide, back arched with both arms bent to the sides, his hands on his hips.


	4. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3: The Child Killer and the Child Killer-

The only thing of note that happened the next day, that Giorno could tell, is that the Fuyuki Hyatt Hotel had collapsed. Luckily, the attack had killed no one, but he knew that there had to be a reason behind it. He had sensed a servants presence in the hotel, so obviously someone would be gunning after them. The only question really was who? But he found that he himself would not be answering that question tonight, he had more pertaining things to address…

* * *

><p>Ryuunosuke Uryuu had admired Jack the Ripper for a long time, the brutality, the skill at which his victim's had been dissected, a brilliant artist whose work was so gravely underappreciated by the masses. So it came as quite a surprise to him when he heard this young, scantily clad girl introduce herself as said legendary serial killer.<p>

"Jack the Ripper, summoned by your call as servant Assassin, are you our new master?" she asked him, staring upwards with her large silver eyes that carried a sense of purity that clashed with her words.

"Uh, name's Uryuu Ryuunosuke. I'm a freelancer. My hobby is murder in general. I like kids and young women. Recently I'm back to sharpening my basis again."

The girl laughed innocently at his words, a kind yet unsettling smile spread across her face; Ryuunosuke saw himself reflected in her expression

"So, you kill 'mothers' too, Master? Wanna play together with us?"

Ryuunosuke was ecstatic, he may not have summoned a demon, but this was almost as good, this young thirteen something girl was a killer like him, claiming to be a personal hero of his, he couldn't hold back anymore and burst out into a roar of sadistic laughter

"Yes, yes! Let's play together, we can start with him over here!" he pointed to the young boy laying bound on the floor. "I mean, what kind of host would I be if I didn't prepare a little entertainment?"

The Servant Assassin slowly gazed around the room, taking in every detail like a wild animal searching for possible threats, before her eyes rested on the boy.

Behind the boy and her new master were the bodies of several other people, her expression didn't change.

"When we play master, we only kill mothers and not children, no more children."

Ryuunosuke was somewhat annoyed at the girl's sudden demand, but ever the optimist, decided to follow this lead, she must have a reason to only kill women right?

"Sure, so long as you show me some more cool ways to kill people I don't care who, death is death; it's all exciting to me!"

The Assassin, Jack, walked over to the boy and knelt down, slicing through his bindings with a strange knife that appeared in her hand, Ryuunosuke would have to ask her about that trick later, it was pretty cool.

"Go back to your mother's warmth, we won't hurt you."

The trembling boy slowly walked over to a nearby closet, pulling it open to reveal a tear soaked woman with her hand clasped firmly over her mouth to stifle her sobbing.

Perplexed, Ryuunosuke looked back at the woman he'd killed before the summoning who he had assumed was the mother, he slapped himself on the forehead when he realized this woman didn't actually look that much like that kid.

"Aaaah it was so obvious, I was too focused on the demon summoning to see it!"

Turning back to the unfolding scene at the closet, Ryuu noticed his newfound partner's eyes had welled up with tears, a strange sight combined with the knife in her hand and her extremely lewd attire, who wears nothing but string panties to cover their lower body anyways?

"Mother… I'm sorry" the young girl choked out between her sobbing. And then she was gone, a flash of light that vanished and reappeared behind the woman in the closet. Ryuunosuke didn't have enough time to be shocked at this apparently teleportation before twin knives slashed down into the woman's neck, which unleashed a truly impressive spray of deep crimson onto the terrified boy before it.

"Amazing! That was so COOOL~!" Ryuu's heart beat faster then ever at this rush, if he could see more of this he'd do anything this girl wanted.

"Jack right, we're gonna have so much FUN playing together!"

* * *

><p>The next night, Jack explained to Uryuu about the Grail, and how, if they killed a certain amount of people, that same grail could allow for any wish to be granted. Why, Uryuu was beside himself! He could wish to kill anyone! He could show his art to the whole world! He laughed a mad laugh, while Jack nonchalantly looked toward the Fuyuki Port.<p>

"Oh? What's that you're looking at?"

"I will be back, stay put."

Uryuu did just that, content to return to creating more art, the bodies around him would make a splendid diorama.

* * *

><p>Jack has quickly located an area where many servants were located, and with the mist around Fuyuki getting thick, this could lead to a quick kill. Hopefully another Mother was there. She quickly set up shop on the southeast side of the docks. She watched as two servants clashed, and she quickly surmised that she would get crushed almost instantly if they attacked her. The assassin thought about pulling away, until she spotted Sabers master, a white-haired woman. She was almost certainly a mother. An almost perfect smile blessed Assassins face, as she decided to close in, until of course, she caught someone's eye. The man was invisible, but she knew the feeling of being watched well, and it was like the man was staring directly <em>into <em>her.

For the first time since she had been summoned, Jack was terrified. Because in that moment of clarity, an intense feeling had swept over her, a huge sense of _wrong _filled her mind. Whoever this person was, he almost certainly did not belong. So, as quick as she had come, she left, not bothering to even think about dealing with this clash of weapons, because if _it _fought her, she would lose, no doubt about it.

Returning home, she thought she could kill time, and ease some stress, with more killing, and Uryuu was more than happy to help, after all, an artist always needs more material. Now that she thought of it, her master had neither really brought up her appearance, nor her "lack" of clothes, not that she minded of course. The less questions the better.

* * *

><p>The next day, a new mass of bodies had been produced, all young woman. Although Uryuu was a bit upset that there wasn't as much diversity as his pool of materials usually offered, he did not want to easily upset his new partner in crime. He had quickly noticed the different styles his grey-haired servant used when killing. For one, she was swift, taking the heart of a human in near seconds, speaking widly of her strength. Uryuu might not have been exceptionally smart, but he was great at three things: killing, art, and judging people. This third talent of his always came in handy, he was always curious about the various intricacies of death, and seeing how different people reacted as he gutted them was not only fucking hilarious, but insightful into the psyche. Bah! He was getting too engrossed in this subject, he was losing too much time, he had to make beautiful works. He had to.<p>

Although he liked the fact that most of the killing was done by Jack, he was upset that she was just so damn _quick_ about it. Everytime she killed, she shed more tears than the last. Was she truly a killer? Oh well, it didn't matter in the end, he still got the satisfaction of seeing the kill and he would make his toys. During this Jack would constantly stare off into the general direction of the docks, her hands constantly wringing. Things changed for them though, when he had found a local newspaper while looking for more bodies, with a headline featuring them! Oh how exciting! People were finally taking notice of his work! He was overjoyed, euphoric even.

Jack on the other hand, was afraid. Uryuu had decided that the house where the boy and the hiding mother had been killed was to be their base of operations. Staying in one place was dangerous, but Uryuu had unknowingly used a command seal in order to follow his directive of, "we will stay in this house." She grew more apprehensive as rain poured against the various blood-stained windows. The dried blood only now starting to peel off. She was still a child, with child-like fears and wonders, and right now, in this nightmare, things were turning into hell. It was a constant fear of paranoia, that the strange being she saw at the docks was always behind her, staring straight into her soul. If worse came to worse she would obviously protect her master, but she was not sure if it would be enough.

When Uryuu showed her the newspaper, while dragging two squirming bodies with him, her paranoia doubled. Now that people _knew_ about the killings, it was more likely that the beast would come now more than ever. Even whenever she closed her eyes, all she saw was two pairs of eyes staring at her. She could not move, she could not close her eyes, and now she had to kill these two mothers.

It had become hell, and what started off as semi-promising had turned nightmarish. She couldn't even cry her normal tears, because then she had to blink and see those demon eyes. Those hellish eyes. She wanted to return to her mother, but the possibility of that happening now was almost nil. Uryuu on the other hand, almost relished the fact that he was being noticed. She was normally cold and uncaring, killing was a normal thing to her, neither good, nor bad, but now... she was starting to regret killing in the first place. Is this where she might have ended up if she had not jumped off that bridge when she was still alive? Constantly being watched...being fearful of even _blinking_. This was not how she wanted to live. She wanted _warmth,_ not this cold feeling that overtook her. Of course, then the doorbell rang.

Ding.

Dong.

Jack froze.

Uryuu _skipped_ toward the door. Uncaring.

"Moshi Moshi!"

A small statement was uttered, so quiet, that if Assassin had not been frozen she might not have heard it.

"Gold Experience." and a shiny arm shot through Uryuu's chest, killing him immediately.

"Savour your pain, Muda Muda" The servant whispered, turning toward Jack, its face a culmination of all the world's evils.

His cold visage was comparable to a demon out of hell, sharp fangs helped accentuate the blood-red gaze of his eyes, his mouth in a firm line. She could tell that this expression was that of a killer. This man promised murder.

Jack, not frozen any longer, broke into tears and sunk to her knees.

The Servant grabbed her face, almost sympathetically. A hot feeling coursed through the assassin's body.

"Don't worry girl, neverending is still an ending." and Jack _smiled,_ she had finally found the warmth the was looking for.

Then her head exploded.

* * *

><p>Giorno's extremely cold look had disappeared, replaced with his usual stony features. Now was not the time to be upset that he had taken the life of a child. She was a servant of the Assassin Class, and had been behind the murders. Tokiomi had sent him here, afraid that his precious wife would be next.<p>

He closed his blue eyes in thought.

"It is done."

"Return home quickly, we have much to discuss."

As he left, he turned the various bodies into flowers and small trees, and the blood into water. He had created an oasis.

He walked out of the building, nature reclaiming the building through his help. The next morning, it would be covered in ivy and moss, the inside would become a garden.

Giorno Giovanna disappeared into the night, satisfied that he had done his job.


	5. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4: Damn Kirei You Crazy-

Kirei was not feeling particularly empty tonight. Which was an insane feat, for the magus known as Kotomine Kirei was an empty shell of a man. He had no thoughts or dreams. He did not even have a wish. He was only fixated on one thing. One person. Kiritsugu Emiya. A man that should have been just like him, but the man had found his answer. Why could the Magus Killer find an answer, a duty, but not him? He had no idea. No thoughts. Just empty thinking.

He was sitting in Caster's workshop, a little out-of-the-way house near the church. It was a fairly normal house, except of course, for the massive basement that he had constructed. It housed an army of golems, all prepared for the conflict. Because Caster had been summoned so early in the war between servants, he could produce hundreds of these unthinking, unfeeling troops. No one could match him in the present in golem creation. He was always amazed by the different golems his servant could create. His favorite one now was standing in front of him, his black keys digging into its solid frame. It had the spitting image of the Emiya, and the next key that Kirei threw, went straight through the golems eyes.

Kirei smirked.

Caster worked in the shadows, constructing yet another golem while frantically scrawling notes on various pieces of paper, the walls, anything with blank space really.

Without turning towards Kirei or slowing his work, the masked golem artist asked a question.

"Master, have you given any thought to what we discussed before?" The golem on Caster's workbench twitched erratically as he joined the nerves of a new arm to it.

"Hoh, are you so eager to see Tokiomi fall; Caster, I thought your only desire was to complete your ultimate creation?" Kirei's smirk faded back into the stoic look he had worn all his life, an expression devoid of feeling.

Caster did not reply, continuing his work on the golem, when it reached a point Caster deemed 'finished', he removed it from the workbench and began anew, only then did he reply to Kirei's question.

"I will do what is required to win the war, but I do not like unnecessary things, this partnership is one such thing."

Kirei glanced around at the veritable army around them; he knew Caster was right, even with a servant that can cancel any attack he was in a position to win this war. But the Kotomine did not want the grail, his goals lay elsewhere, he returned his gaze to Caster.

"About that other matter we discussed, have your scout golems found a way in?"

"There are various points where ley lines interfere with the bounded field, an attack on the Einzbern territory can be carried out at any time, I've had a golem prepare a map of them, use them as you wish."

On cue a humanoid golem stepped out of the shadows and handed Kirei a hand drawn map on parchment, to Kirei who had grown outside of the life of a magus, their way of handling things always seemed so… inefficient.

"Have your golems ready to mobilize within the hour, Caster; I feel it's time to make a move"

He would get his answer one way or another, from the Magus Killer or the Archer, but he wouldn't get any answers staying in the basement and playing with his Servants dolls any longer.

"Let's see what answers you hold… Kiritsugu Emiya!"

* * *

><p>He knew that something was wrong when he sensed the movement of hundreds of bodies moving toward the Einzbern castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki. Giorno knew that if he attacked the castle, he could easily maneuver the bounded fields, and take out the white haired magus. But because he was never given a directive by Tokiomi, he felt no reason to try. Now, however..<p>

"Archer, I believe Kirei may have done something that might upset me later."

Already knowing what he was going to say next, he disappeared into the night, wondering what was in store for him.

* * *

><p>"Berserker...kill them all."<p>

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅！"

* * *

><p>Giorno sensed, as he walked toward the castle, servants fighting. He immediately sensed Saber and Lancer toward the castle, and...another?<p>

Damnit not again.

A massive tree trunk slammed into the Archer, sending him crashing into a few trees. He stood back up, no worse for wear. He wiped off some of the dust on his clothes, and began to pose. His hand started to come toward his chest when the mad dog tried attacking again, this time, with a dilapidated lamp post - damn where did he keep finding those - but Giorno casually weaved his way around it.

"Tch"

This servant, would dare interrupt him? Him?! The Boss of Passione?! No matter, he would crush this beast like the insect he was. But, he would have fun first. He had not had a proper fight since he had come to fight for Tokiomi, so now he could do so.

He stretched his neck out and posed again, his arms coming to his side to make a heart shape with his hands. He put one foot in front of him, and _sprang_ toward Berserker, his speed making him crash head first into the armor-clad knight. The movement pushed back the servant far enough that they had a good distance between them. The servant of an unknown, crept down, and, much like a rabbit would, jumped. However, this jump left a crater, and the rabbit was heading straight for Giorno. Giorno reared back his fist, his body movement taking on a more dangerous position. Fangs bared, he punched the servant straight in the torso, only using the bare minimum of Gold Experience. The blow had sent the other servant skidding back a few feet.

Berserker then grabbed a random tree. Much to Giornos displeasure, the tree slowly turned black and corrupted. This man was now sullying life? He had to finish the fight. The Archer could barely think calmly as the tree wilted, turning into a noble phantasm against its will, It was nauseating. But he had an idea. A crazy bizarre idea, but one that could work. However, he was not sure if he could do it if the other servant was flailing around like a mad dog. He would try.

He stalked forward toward Berserker, knowing that if he had not had Gold Experience, one of these attacks would take off his head. But, he thought as he weaved in and out of various swings of the trunk, he did, and could use it to his full advantage.

When he finally could touch the servant he did just that, punching the servant with Gold Experience wrapped around his arm, carrying the servant into the air. He juggled the black berserker in the air, whenever he would fall back toward the earth, another punch was unleashed. This went on for a minute, with each punch being punctuated by a strong Muda.

The mad dog fell to the ground, an enormous amount of life energy injected into it; it would surely be completely mentally paralyzed by the effects.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅！"

Impossibly, the servant resisted the effects of Gold Experiences' overflowing life; its mad enhancement broke through and freed it from its mental prison. Giorno had no time to react before another massive tree trunk was smashed into him full force; the trees around him rushed by his view in an instant as he was sent tumbling through the forest.

* * *

><p>The golems that Saber and Lancer had been engaged with began to retreat; Saber's relief was short lived however, when a certain gold haired servant flew out of the trees into the clearing they stood in. Soon Berserker followed him, and the fight got that much more complicated.<p>

Berserker picked up a severed arm and leg from the broken golems nearby, one in each hand; his black noble phantasm spreading through them. Giorno slowly raised himself to his feet, but by then the Servants of sword and spear had already moved in.

Their weapons danced around them, a whirlwind of death that would defeat a lesser servant with ease, even Giorno didn't like his chances. But this corrupted dog was an aberration, a Berserker who could fight with the full skill he wielded in his life; he deftly parried every blow from his two opponents and followed each with a powerful counterattack.

"This mad dog doesn't know his place." Lancer panted, even the stamina of a servant wasn't infinite, and Berserker's assault was proving quite more challenging than the golems. "Ey Archer, you going to help out here?"

"My noble phantasm is ineffective against him; I can provide support but nothing more." He replied, his mind working overtime trying to form a plan to defeat this servant.

"Hmph, the way you strolled out of your first appearance painted you as a real threat, but you're nothing but talk, Archer." Saber scoffed, though she too had no means to defeat the black knight before them. "If only I could use my Nobl-"

"Oh? You can't use your Noble Phantasm, Saber?" Giorno walked up to the two servants who were loosely on his side at the moment, his limited information crystallized into a thought, he decided to take a gamble. "You were hurt in the fight at the docks, by Lancer, and the wound has not healed. Am I correct?"

Saber's face was all he needed for an answer; he turned to Lancer and without warning, a golden fist slammed into Lancer's face.

Saber's expression turned to utter shock at this, before she could ask Archer what madness he suffered from, Lancer, stunned and within Berserker's range, was smashed into a nearby tree..

Saber felt her hand heal as the curse placed on it by Lancer's Noble Phantasm faded, which meant only one thing, Lancer who was unable to block the attack at all, had died _instantly_.

"I'll leave this up to you, Saber." Giorno's cold face faded into the surroundings as he returned to spirit form.

A huge flash of light shook the forest behind him, but Giorno's sights were set forward, a certain priest had come into view.

"Kirei, are you on your way to Tokiomi's as well?" he called out, becoming physical again. "Quite an impressive show you put on back there."

"Hoh, has Tohsaka got you on babysitting duty?" Kirei did not stop his movement, refusing to even look at the servant. "I don't suppose you could 'cancel' the anger he'll no doubt hold for me and my actions."

Giorno's expression didn't change, but something about the inflection of Kirei's words bothered him, as if saying that he knew of Giorno's hidden Noble Phantasm and was not threatened by it; Giorno had to respect his confidence if nothing else.

"If I could, what reason would I have to do it, Tokiomi's plan is my plan after all; and I think you'll find I am for _less _lenient on people getting in the way of my plans then him."

* * *

><p>Tokiomi was furious, what was Kirei thinking?! He had just potentially jeopardized the entire mission. When Giorno returned, he calmed down a little bit, but when both Kirei and two golems entered the room, his anger returned back two fold. And as the old saying goes. An angry magus is an unpredictable one.<p>

"Kirei" The Tohsaka said simply.

Kirei had the gall to keep looking him in the eye "My involvement is unknown, none should have figured out I'm Caster's Master, I remained in the shadows during the attack."

"But what if they have learned you're involved in this war? What then Kirei? You may well have blown our entire plan with this excursion of yours!"

The enraged Tohsaka magus shouted, he didn't often show his anger to this level, but he could feel his chances of reaching the Root slipping through his fingers with every event that eroded his plan.

"If I had been witnessed, they would have been eliminated swiftly, or do you not trust my abilities to avoid detection?"

"All right, I'll trust in your skills as an Executor of the church, for now." Tokiomi sighed, this was only a minor change to the plan, he could still pull it off, at the very least Lancer had been eliminated. "At least tell me what you had hoped to achieve by attacking the stronghold of the Einzberns so brazenly, I can see no reason for this so early in the war."

"With the wound Saber received during the first battle, she is no longer a match for Caster's golems, had Lancer and his master not arrived they would have surely overwhelmed her, allowing myself the opportunity to strike at the Einzbern master."

Kirei was unsure if he was a good liar or not, he lacked the capacity for genuine feeling, so he wasn't able to replicate it with any confidence. But Tokiomi was too focused on the Root, seeing only the end of the war, and he was unable to see what was in front of him, his greatest blind spot in this conflict.

"Fine, fine," Tokiomi waved him off, "Do not deviate from the plan further, return to the church and make no moves until I give the signal."

"Shall I continue to monitor the other masters with Caster?"

"Obviously, the fact you have to ask makes me question whether you're taking this war seriously or not, Kotomine."

Kotomine Kirei bowed and exited Tokiomi's study, a slight smirk spread across Kirei's face as he exited the estate. Tokiomi, and by extension Giorno, were both completely in the dark as to what happened within the Einzbern forest.

Having come directly into conflict with both the supposed master of Saber; Irisviel, and the Magus Killer's attack dog, he had attempted to integrate them on Kiritsugu Emiya to no avail.

"I guess I'll follow your lead for now, Tokiomi…"

* * *

><p>The following day , Kotomine Kirei was playing the role of a stalker, his target: one Waver Velvet, self proclaimed prodigy and master of the Servant Rider.<p>

After Caster's scrying had found him wandering around the local shopping district with a man who distinctly stood out, a massive beast of a man in a tight fitting t-shirt for some videogame with a garish logo, Rider made no effort to conceal his presence either out of stupidity or confidence.

"What a foolish combination, who would go shopping with their servant out in the open, he would be an easy target. " Kotomine whispered to himself as he observed the pair from behind a nearby tree. "Caster, dispatch me an assassin-type golem, and though it will be unneeded, 2 combat-types that could hold off a servant long enough for retreat."

"Understood Master, immediately," Replied the servant through their mental link.

Kotomine continued to follow the pair until they reached a small family run bookstore, Rider entered alone while the master sat on a nearby bench. Kotomine Kirei saw his chance and took it, mentally ordering the Assassin Golem to strike Waver from behind.

It dashed towards it's target with near servant speed, an arm that ended on a blade instead of a hand drew forward, poised to take the young Magus' head.

"Hoh, what's this strange construct doing by my Master?" boomed the voice of the Servant who should still be in the store. Kirei's mental link with the golem faltered for a moment as he tried to understand the situation and realized he was dangerously close to being revealed as Caster's Master; Tokiomi wasn't going to be happy.

The Servant Rider raised his right arm; a shortsword of Greek design appearing in it, Kirei sensed no power from within, it was no Noble Phantasm. The servant assassin lunged for the defenseless Waver is a desperate attempt to end the fight, but was sent thrashing to the ground by a mighty swing of Rider's sword. The servant quickly smashed the golem apart with one of his massive legs and laughed.

"Come on now, you'll have to do more than that to beat the King of Conquerors!"

Kirei ordered the two combat Golems hiding in a nearby alley to attack, as he quickly dashed away from the fight with his Executor skills. The Master of Caster vanished into the shadows of Fuyuki's many back alleyways before anyone was the wiser, quickly preparing an explanation as to why he had disobeyed Tokiomi once again.

Receiving the order to come back to the Tohsaka mansion minutes before arriving himself, Kotomine had at least correctly predicted that Tokiomi was unhappy, though what good that would do him was up for debate.

Kirei bowed as he entered Tokiomi's study and took a seat in the empty chair in front of his desk, the Tohsaka head already seated behind it and examine a small golden globe; a mystic code of Tokiomi's that allowed for limited Scrying.

"Damn it all Kirei, I gave you the direct order to not interfere in the plan again, why do you continue to disobey me?" Tokiomi's words boiled as he tried to maintain his composer. "Rider is a non-issue; this move is completely unnecessary and counter productive!"

"If I may be blunt, Tokiomi, you're being too short sighted, we don't know the extent of Rider's powers, to leave him unchecked because you think your servant invincible is a grave mistak-"

"Enough, stop talking now and return to the church, if you interfere with my plans again, I will be forced to abolish this partnership and make you my enemy, I'm sure neither of us wishes for that outcome, correct?"

"It is as you say, Tokiomi, I won't interfere again, on my word as a man of God."

Kotomine Kirei stood from the chair, bowed, and exited the Tohsaka estate for the second time in two days, his position with Tokiomi weakened, but it was no matter, the Tohsaka head was just unnecessary baggage.


	6. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5: Da Feast-

Giorno felt the man approach before he saw him. It had been only a day since the golem attack on the Einzbern castle, as well as the defeat of Lancer and Berserker. He flexed his fingers, even without the help of Gold Experience his wounds from the battle with Berserker had all but healed; a servant's body was truly something. He turned to face the man, knowing who it was by his footfalls alone.

"Ah Archer, I am so glad to find you in one piece after that battle, this war gets more interesting by the minute!"

Giorno wanted to scowl, the servant Iskander and his master Waver had approached him without inhibition. While he had publicly killed 'assassin' and privately killed the true one, he had not displayed enough power to truly be an unapproachable threat, part of Tokiomi's plans to lure servants out no doubt.

"Rider, I take it by your casual tone to mean you don't wish to fight here?"

"I hear you killed both Berserker and Lancer in your fight the other day, most impressive, are you sure you won't join my army?" he laughed.

"I take no credit for the kills themselves, only for creating the situation that led to them."

"Hoh hoh, turning one's enemies against each other to kill two in one, a skillful tactic I've employed many times in my life." Rider's face was positively full of excitement, the more he heard the more he wanted this man to follow him into battle.

Waver, who was stood behind Rider, shaking more than that of an overloaded washing machine, began to protest this conversation. "R-rider, this doesn't seem like such a good id-." Waver was interrupted with a flick to the forehead, sending the boy to the ground, clutching his head.

Giorno turned around and started back to the Tohsaka mansion, not wanting to deal with this servant any longer.

"Archer!" Giorno swiftly turned back to face Rider, immediately on the defensive, striking the same pose he used against the false Assassin back at the start of the war.

"W-whoa Archer!" Rider put his hands in the air, and let out a big laugh.

"I just wanted to invite you to the Einzbern castle, there, we will have a grand feast. A feast for kings! What say you, King of Passione?"

"I am no king." Giorno said quietly, "I will come; it will be an interesting chance to learn how my enemies think."

"Excelent! Don't be late!" and with that Rider took off into the sky on his Gordius Wheel, heading straight for the manor.

Unknown to Giorno or Iskander, a Golem was watching in the shadows, Kirei would want this information.

* * *

><p>Nobody at the Einzbern manor could have expected the servant Rider to come crashing in from the sky at this time of night, even less would have expected the loud servant would have come just to talk. Saber sat with Rider in the courtyard where he had landed his chariot, a large wooden barrel of wine next to the King of Conquerors; where he got it was anyone's guess.<p>

"So, Rider, what is it you wish to discuss at this, whatever this is." asked the Servant of the Sword, still clad in full armor. Even if one comes as an envoy of peace, one should not let down their guard carelessly.

"We'll get to that Saber, when our third guest has arrived, that Archer sure is late, perhaps he wanted to fix his appearance before he came before such a lovely king?" chuckled Rider as he glanced in Saber's direction, her eyes widened for a moment before returning to her composed look.

"You would invite Archer?! That man is neither a hero nor a king, merely a rabid dog that could bite us at any moment!" Rider's train of thought was truly incomprehensible to her "He sacrificed Lancer without a second thought, not even knowing if it was the right course of action!"

She referred to, of course, the fight with Berserker, where he has callously thrown Lancer to his death to achieve victory.

"Lancer and I had no formal alliance, we were enemies, my actions led to the death of two of mine." The voice of the third guest, Giorno Giovanna, chimed in. He materialized in the courtyard like any servant would and casually strolled over to the other two.

"You dare come before me after what you have done, Archer?" She threw a distasteful look at him, but it deflected off his stony exterior. "You do not deserve to be at a feast of kings!"

"I have been invited and that is enough of a reason for me, I am a Gang-Star, the boss of Passione, the former boss had a habit of calling himself the King, but I think Rider wished me to attend because he finds me entertaining."

"Hoh, seen through my motives already have you? Impressive, impressive, you may not be a king but you carry yourself as one, now, have a seat, enjoy some wine."

The large servant waved Giorno over, directing him to sit across from Saber and next to him. "Now, tell me how you two defeated Berserker, even I felt I'd have trouble with that one."

"I believe Saber is the one you should ask about that," replied the golden haired servant, reaching out and taking a wooden ladle from the open barrel of wine next to Rider, which had clearly been serving as a makeshift cup for the two other participants.

"How else but my Noble Phantasm, I'm sure even Rider witnessed at least the aftermath." she replied, pointing in the general direction of a newly cleared path in the forest, every tree within being burnt to cinders.

"Is this wine what you referred to as a 'feast' Rider? I admit I'm not much for it, but I wouldn't wish to be on uneven footing" Giorno interjected, he felt the topic of Berserker was causing unneeded tension with Saber and wished to be past it as soon as possible.

After slowly draining the ladle, Giorno handed it back to the massive servant to his right who quickly refilled it and downed the contents in one motion.

"So, Rider, would you care to tell us what this is about?" asked Saber, who now had the 'goblet' as Rider had been calling it, Rider grinned.

"Of course, first, let us have a quiz about the Holy Grail, shall we? Archer, why don't you start, tell us why you are worthy of winning the Grail, why you want it!" exclaimed the ecstatic servant.

"It's simple, I Giorno Giovanna, have a dream." Giorno was handed the ladle once more, He slowly sipped the wine with a composed elegance. "What that dream is would matter little to you, all I'll tell you is it's entirely personal and effects only myself."

"You seek the grail for only yourself, Archer, it is obvious you are no king." interjected Saber, who stared at him intensely. "A king would only seek the grail for his people."

"I disagree, Saber, I too wish for a selfish thing." Came the voice of Rider, who's normal cheerful look had become tinged with a hint of sorrow. "I wish to be human."

"Ehh? You have such a basic wish, surely you jest Rider," replied Saber.

"My dream is world conquest, of course!" He gulped down more wine, refilled it, and nearly threw it at Saber in his excitement. "But to wish for world conquest from the grail and deny myself the satisfaction of doing it myself, never! Better I should be reborn in this world to begin my conquest once more."

"I understand Rider's point of view, I too have engaged in 'conquest'. I lost many comrades along the way, but in the end I won of my own power, wishing for the end result insults the journey." added Giorno.

"Ha ha, exactly, this is exactly the reason I wanted you here, Boss of Passione! Now Saber, you said you'd use the wish for your people, how exactly, your kingdom is long gone."

"Isn't it obvious, Rider? I'll wish for the salvation of my homeland, to avert England's fate." She responded.

The Feast fell silent, Saber looked around confused.

"Hey King of Knights, I might have heard you wrong but...?" Rider finally broke the silence, his face was plainly confused. "Did you say you wanted to change fate? Which means you wish to reverse history?"

"Correct. Even if the wish is something that cannot be granted through a miracle, if the Holy Grail is truly omnipotent, surely..." Saber answered haughtily.

"Errr, Saber? I'd like to confirm this...the destruction of that Britain was in your time, right, during your reign?"

"Yes! That is why I cannot forgive myself." Saber answered, her tone firmer than before.

Giorno's expression didn't change on the outside, but within it seemed to become even colder. "Sacrificing everything to change the past is nothing but weakness, To become the 'Boss' I had to sacrifice many lives, but for the sake of my dream I would sacrifice more, a leader that grieves and moves forward is true strength! I mourn for my fallen friends, but to go back would be denying myself that my path was the right one."

"Stay out of this Archer, You are no King!" The servant of the sword almost spat out. Saber's composure eroded with each passing second. "I do not understand what there is to question here! As a king, it should come naturally to sacrifice ourselves and strive to create a better country!"

"No, Archer is right." In a firm, rock-like voice, Rider objected. "You're wrong, Saber. It's not the king sacrificing for the nation. It's the nation and the people sacrificing their lives for the king. You got it backwards."

"What-?!" Saber could no longer suppress her own anger, she shouted loudly. "Isn't that a tyrant's rule? Rider, you bastard, are nowhere near a kin-"

With the swiftness of a gale, Giorno Giovanna had appeared before Saber, A gold glowing fist connected with her breastplate in a thunderous crash. "Mudada" whispered the servant.

Dirt and dust blocked all visibility for a moment, and when it cleared Giorno was facing away from Saber, who was slowly recovering from the sucker punch. One of Archer's hands were outstretched to the sky, the other held in front of his face with his figures covering one eye. "Savor the pain of your own ideals, naive girl."

"Ar..cher…" Saber regained her footing and entered into a combat stance, though she had no visible weapon, all present were aware of her invisible sword. A massive bust of Prana erupted from Saber as she dashed forward towards Giorno.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a certain Tohsaka was currently nursing a headache brought on by his servants stupidity, first drinking with one enemy then starting a fight within the other enemies own territory, what was he thinking?<p>

"Kirei, I hate to say this after what I said before, but I require you to make a move on the Einzbern mansion, our trump card is acting erratically, bring him back."

"Of course, I'll send a large quantity of golems at once," Replied Kirei over their mental connection.

* * *

><p>Waver Velvet was having a hard time keeping his composure, having been on the verge of screaming out loud several times already since the start of this 'feast', but this was surely the most absurd part by a long shot. The servant Archer had sucker punched Saber while Rider stood and did nothing, seemingly entertained by the chaos that had unfolded.<p>

But in the end, neither him nor Irisviel made any actions, though her composure was faltering as well, they both knew they couldn't affect the outcome of this conflict between servants if they tried.

* * *

><p>Giorno's EX agility rating was showing in full force, every attack Saber unleashed was met with her target striking a strange pose and dodging out of the way at the last second.<p>

"Muda muda muda, you won't reach me with resolve like that, Saber."

Saber continued to press her attack, putting as much power as she could, this time her swing connected; but with Rider's shortsword.

"I hate to interrupt here, it was quite entertaining! But it appears we have company."

Out of the shadows stepped a veritable army of golems, and Giorno's anger left him, more content to see what would happen next.

"What's the meaning of this?! Assassins appearing one after the other…There was supposed to be only one Servant of each class!" Someone remarked, Giorno was not sure who, he did not care. If this sneak attack would draw out more power from the two servants, he would be content.

"You're correct. We are all acting as one Servant, and each individual is only a shadow of the whole." One of the "Assassins" remarked. Giorno mentally scoffed, this charade was getting annoying, but he would play along.

"They mean business." Saber remarked, dusting off her armor.

Rider smiled, "Ah! More guests for the banquet!"

"King of Conquerors. Are you trying to invite them as well?"

"Of course, the king's words should be heard by everyone, so if someone showed up to hear, it doesn't matter if they're friend or foe."

The assassins then spoke as one. "We have no need for trivial matters such as this. We will kill you, and win this war."

Just then, much to the surprise of everyone, a whirlwind kicked up. Even Giorno's eyebrow raised when he felt the winds power. It was hot and full of sand, nothing like the normal Japanese air.

"Saber, and Archer, the last question of the banquet – is the king, or boss, lonesome?"

Giorno smirked a bit, and Saber chose to move closer to Iri.

"A king...has no choice to be lonesome!"

"Wrong, wrong! That answer is almost as good as having no answers! Let me teach you two today what it means to be a true king!"

A reality was then imposed itself unto Gaia forcefully, the reality of Iskander, Rider of the Fourth Fuyuki Grail War. The castle Einzbern turned into a scorching desert, with the group of servants standing in the middle of the seemingly endless plain.

A reality marble? Giorno had heard a bit of this from a crash course of magics with Tokiomi. One of the highest achievable magecraft...but was Iskander a magus?

Sensing their concern, Rider boasted, "Of course, I could not do this alone!"

He then began a practiced speech, "This land is the land in which my army once crossed. It is imprinted upon the hearts of every single one of my warriors who shared in my joys and sorrows. The reason why this world can exist again... is because it is printed upon _all_ of our hearts. All of these beings…are servants!"

Behind the group, a massive amount of people had been summoned. An army, easily outclassing the small group of golems on their opposite.

"BEHOLD, MY PEERLESS ARMY!" With that line, he and his men had raised their weapons, and shouted a mighty shout. One that echoed in all of the assembled servants.

"Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call! These men are my legendary heroes – my loyal followers! They're my true friends - breaking the rules of space and time to fight once more at my side!"

"They are my treasure within treasures; they're my right to rule! They make up Alexander's mightiest Noble Phantasm – Ionian Hetairoi!"

Giorno's eyes finally widened. This was the power of the mighty King of Conquerors? An excellent opponent, with an excellent power. He assumed - correctly- that this was an EX ranked noble phantasm. He had combined the power of his army into a reality, filled to the brim with servant quality beings. However, these golems were also servant level, and they were combat oriented. But they were easily outgunned and outnumbered by the sheer amount of servants on the other side. Giorno's eyes closed and he smirked, he already knew the outcome of the fight.

A horse galloped over to the beast of a man, with the man embracing the horse dearly, almost like a long lost friend. Everyone was speechless, content with watching in awe the majesty of Rider's army.

"Alright, Assassin. Let us begin." Rider smiled, and with that, his Army charged toward the golems.

"AAAALaLaLaLaLaie!" The shout rang out, Rider leading the charge.

The golems were quickly massacred. With a cheer of everlasting victory, the marble vanished, leaving everyone back in the courtyard.

"Anyways, we've said all we wanted to say, right? Let us stop here for today."

It was so sudden it made everyone jump, the sound that came out of the enigma that was Archer.

"Pfft.."

The sheer bluntness of it all hit Giorno like a ton of bricks, and finally for the first time in a very long time, he laughed. Everyone suddenly looked toward the laughing servant as if he was mad. It started quietly and the sound was foreign, but quickly became boisterous. The sheer _hilarity_ of this feast had finally struck the servant. He clasped his face with a hand, his entire body shaking. His chuckling felt alien, he had not laughed since he had begun to pursue his dream. He did not even pause in his laughter as he walked straight through the entrance, disappearing in a cloud of prana. The final notes of his mirth ringing across the now silent courtyard.


	7. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6: Plans-

Kotomine and Caster were finally prepared to carry out their plan. They had been waiting for the right moment, and why not begin when everyone was distracted. He had no idea where Lancer was, but, with his golems taking on the servants at the Einzbern castle, no one would know where he was. After Tokiomi gave him the order, he immediately went into motion, heading straight toward the church.

* * *

><p>Tokiomi had entered his study to find his servant behind his desk, holding a strange ornate arrow, had that been a part of his relic collection he'd forgotten about?<p>

"Archer, what is… that?" he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

The servant looked at the arrow in his hand, turned to Tokiomi, and made it vanish into nothing. "As you can see by that Master, it seems to be a noble phantasm of mine I was initially unaware of, I only realized I possessed it a few moments ago when my memories of this arrow came to mind and I found myself holding it."

A third Phantasm, Tokiomi was ecstatic at the thought, if it was anything like his servant's other two, it would be nearly incomprehensible. He held back the excitement in his words and asked.

"It must be an impressive phantasm indeed to allow you to be summoned as the archer class with just a single arrow, tell me, _what_ _does_ _it_ _do_?"

"Contrary to its existence as an arrow, it is more a 'tool' than a 'weapon', and what it does is something that hardly seems useful to this war, if the need arises I shall tell you, until then put it out of your mind."

Tokiomi was frustrated, but would trust his servant; the war was all but won already with the deaths of two servants at once. It seems the master of Lancer had died in the Einzbern mansion according to his increasingly scattered reports from Kirei.

"Anyway, I did not come to discus arrows with you, Archer, we have more serious matters to attend to. Please explain to me what possible reason you had for… _that?_" The Tohsaka magus demanded. "What were you even thinking, walking right into the enemies stronghold, drinking with them casually?"

"I saw an interesting opportunity to learn how the enemy thinks, knowing how your opponent operates is vital in a battle. I can easily win against Saber with only Gold Experience by exploiting the weakness in her personality, is that not valuable to you?'

Tokiomi rubbed his face and sighed heavily. "These unneeded actions, both yours and Kotomine's, undermine the strategy. We can't afford to deviate further."

"Understood, I'm sorry, Master, I haven't been the one following the orders for a long time now."

"Scout the area for now, and do not engage without my consent."

Giorno nodded and returned to spirit form, content to follow his master's order… this time.

Tokiomi sighed again, he had to speak to Risei immediately, his son was behaving irrationally.

* * *

><p>The Tohsaka head stepped into the church, the doors shutting behind him. An ominous wind swept through the barren church, as Tokiomi walked toward the sitting priest. Risei's head was bowed down in reverence, facing the altar. Tokiomi walked until he was beside the much older man.<p>

"Risei I needed to speak to you about…" Tokiomi paused, noticing Risei had not even bothered acknowledging his presence. Growing weary, the Tohsaka leaned down, and almost doubled back in fear at what he saw. The body of his friend was utterly town apart from the waist down. Multiple black keys had impaled his body, and his upper torso had been ripped open. All of the poor man's organs had been taken, leaving an empty cavity for a chest. His mouth hung agape, his lower jaw barely attached. Backing away slowly, Tokiomi brought up his hand.

"Archer, by the power of my command seal, I order you to protect me!"

With that shout, Giorno appeared, posing, in front of Tokiomi. And with that, all hell broke loose. Immediately, Golems stormed through every orifice, completely surrounding Archer and Tokiomi. While Giorno was busy fighting off the golems with his Gold Experience, Tokiomi used his few jewels he kept on his person, trying to fend off the golems.

"Kirei… What is the meaning of this?!" Tokiomi had barely felt the presence of Kotomine Kirei in the far corner of the chapel, another few seconds and he'd likely have met his end completely unaware. "Was it Caster, have you been poisoned against me, your master? Stop this at once, it's not too late for us to remain on the same side!"

"Hohhh… And what makes you think I'd want remain on your side, _master?" _Replied the former apprentice of Tokiomi Tohsaka, he stepped out of the shadows in his black executor robes, the handles of several black keys in his hands. "Your goal and mine simply don't match up; you've become unnecessary."

"Archer, destroy these golems, I shall deal with Kirei personally…" Tokiomi removed his overcoat and brought out his jeweled staff, his main mystic code. "I taught you magecraft these last years Kirei, and for what?! To be betrayed by one whose strings are being pulled by that puppet-master of a Servant? We could have reached Akasha, do you really think you couldn't find answers in the Root of the world?"

"Enough, your quest for the Root has blinded you Tokiomi, I will not be dragged down by your foolish pride." Kotomine Kirei threw off his cloak and dashed forward in one motion, his left hand unleashing three black keys in a smooth throw. "In teaching me your secrets, you've exposed your weaknesses, now come see what your teaching have wrought!"

* * *

><p>Despite having been ordered to fight the golems, Giorno leapt between his master and the three black keys. "Gold Experience!" His hands moved at unthinkable speed, sending each blade harmlessly to the floor as frogs.<p>

It was then that a truly hulking golem tackled Giorno from the right, and with that the Archer who fought hand to hand was separated from his master as a wall of golems of all shapes and size surrounded him.

The golem assault intensified, Giorno had no openings to slip through and return to Tokiomi no matter how many he destroyed.

* * *

><p>Tokiomi traced many complex runes in the air with his staff; he'd end this in one blow with the most powerful spell he could call forth. An enormous gout of flame shot from his staff, incinerating everything in its path. To Tokiomi's horror Kirei was no longer in front of him, and had in fact completely flanked him within such a short span of time.<p>

A hot sharpness pierced Tokiomi's chest through his back, his vision blurred, he tried to activate another command seal, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was warm crimson fluid, Tokiomi Tohsaka collapsed to the cold stone floor with a resounding thud.

* * *

><p>Giorno felt something within him break, without having even seen it he knew right away, his master had died, it had only been a moment since they were separated, but a moment is all it takes to end a fragile human life. He felt his power weaken without his connection to Tokiomi, but beyond that, he felt… anger, he wouldn't say he even considered Tokiomi a friend, but Giorno Giovanna valued loyalty.<p>

"Gold Experience… Requiem!"

He smashed through the army of golems, every attack landing on him rendered completely ineffective, his fists slammed into everything in his path, reducing each golem to 'zero' and rendering them completely inert.

When Giorno reached the center of the church however, the traitor was nowhere to be seen, he knelt down next to his fallen master's body and brushed his hand over Tokiomi's face, closing his eyes. "Sorry, Gold Experience can't raise the dead, you wouldn't want to end up like that."

Giorno picked up his master's body and fled the church before more golems arrived. This was a major setback, but he'd survive, he had two reasons now, his dream, and the punishment of the traitorous priest.

"Your crimes are unforgivable, Kotomine!"

* * *

><p>Kirei emerged from his hiding spot as soon as the servant had gotten far enough way, a twisted smile spread across his face when he glanced at the pool of blood left by his former master.<p>

Caster materialized next to Kirei and looked over the body of the slain Risei. "Finally, I can work free of distractions, I would not have it any other way."

Kirei's face returned to his usually soulless one, 'Of course you wouldn't." and with that, Caster resumed his work on Risei, turning the man into a golem.

* * *

><p>Kariya Matou was not having a great time. These past few days had been especially hellish for him. His only chance to save Sakura was gone, and he himself was staring at deaths door. That is, until a certain golden-haired servant found him in a dark alleyway.<p>

"Y-you…" The dying Matou master's face twisted, his one working eye bulging out like it would burst. "This is all… your fault, you ruined everything, don't you understand?"

"Kariya Matou, do you still wish to win the war?" inquired the servant. "If so, form a pact with me, I shall be your servant for the remainder of the war."

"I have no wish for the Grail, or desire to be in this damned war if it wasn't for Sa-" Kariya cut off his own words, obviously wanting to hide something from Giorno, "and you think I'd side with you? Who do you think is responsible for my laying here in this filth?"

Giorno dropped the body of Tokiomi Tohsaka in front of Kariya, and coldly responded "He is, I saw you in his memories, and I saw what he did with 'her'."

Kariya coughed, blood dibbled down his chin, "I'll be no more use to you then him soon, unless a bowman can save me from sure death."

"I can, should you agree to the partnership."

"I cannot side with Tohsaka's dog, my pride won't allow it!" Kariya declared, still firmly set against Giorno.

"I've had about enough of magus pride lately, Kariya." Giorno began to walk off. "Pride has gotten nobody to their goal, if you truly desire to rescue Sakura, throw away your pride until she's safe in your hands."

"Wait..." Kariya called out to the departing servant, his voice faltering. "Give me… a little time to think about it."

"Sure, I'll return after I've spoken with Tokiomi's wife, she at least deserves to know of his death.

Giorno Giovanna departed the weak Matou master to deliver news he really would have rather not had to, but still he moved forwards, it was his duty.

* * *

><p>Aoi opened the door noiselessly, letting the strange man into the room. The man had appeared at her parents and said that he had connections with Tokiomi. The boy had a strange face, it was grim, and tinged with a hint of guilt. Rin had walked in, and started in amazement at the teenager.<p>

When the first words came tumbling out of the man's mouth, introducing himself as the gang-star Giorno Giovanna, Aoi had become wary. What was Tokiomi doing meddling with gangsters? However, the next thing he said sent her worry over the edge. He mentioned that he was Tokiomi's servant in the Holy Grail war. With that information, Aoi sent Rin out of the room.

"Your daughter needs to hear this as well."

Not wanting to argue with the strange servant, Rin remained, curious about the man's intention.

"Tokiomi, could not make it here, so he wanted me to pass on information to the two of you."

Aoi motioned for the man to continue.

"Rin, the Holy Grail will appear eventually. It is our duty as the Tōsaka family to win it. More importantly, if you want to be a magus, you can't avoid it." The mysterious words left the mysterious servants mouth. Rin smiled up at the man, almost as if she understood everything he had said, and left the room.

Aoi was concerned, that sounded like someones last words..

"Archer, why is it that Tokiomi could not make it?"

"Archer, please tell me, why my husband was unable to come here in person?" her chest tightened, part of her didn't want to hear the answer, but she had to know. "I-it's not that, right? Please, just say anything but those words!"

"It is as you suspect, Tokiomi is-" The servant was cut of by a weak, shaking woman's fist to the chest, tears had begun to roll down her cheek.

"D-Don't say it, just don't say it! It's not true, right, right? This is just part of his plan isn't, to trick us so we won't be targets?"

Giorno shook his head, and the crying wife of Magus Tokiomi Tohsaka collapsed into Giorno's body, were he not a servant the sudden weight of a grown human against him might have caused his thin frame to falter, but the servant held firm as a marble statue.

Aoi sobbed into the young servants chest, she had understood that Tokiomi was involved in something dangerous from the start, but she never imagined it would end up like this, he'd been so confident in his own safety it seemed like an impossible outcome.

"D-Did he suffer… when it happened?" she choked out the words through sobbing. The composed noblewoman that had greeted him had fallen apart completely.

"No, he died quickly, any slower and I might have been able to save him, I'm sorry…" Giorno lightly pushed Aoi off of him, turned around and exited quickly, returning to spirit form.

She fell to her knees and continued to cry loudly, her mind slowly going numb. The young Rin, eavesdropping through the door, finally coming to the realization of what had passed, unable to stand the sight of her mother's distraught state, she quietly returned to her room, crying on the inside.

Giorno Giovanna hated to be the bearer of bad news, had he still been in physical form, one could have seen a slight tear in his eye, though he'd never admit that to even his closest companions.

* * *

><p>Shortly thereafter, Giorno found himself standing over the body of Kariya Matou once more, the man was asleep with a pained look on his face. He gently nudged the Magus awake with his foot.<p>

"Oi, you still alive?" he asked bluntly. "Made up your mind about what we discussed earlier?"

The Matou master's face became strained as he wrestled with the discussion before him, He had no wish to work with the dog of Tokiomi, that bastard who sold an innocent girl to that… monster. But, without his help the war for him was all but lost, and he'd fail, sacrificing his life for nothing, and he _would_ save Sakura, at any cost.

"Alright, I agree, hurry before I change my mind."

He told Kariya bluntly that what would happen next would hurt, a lot. First, Kariya had to provide a mana link, which would allow for another temporary master-servant contract.

"Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade. If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond—"

"I so swear. Thy offering shalt be my flesh and blood. Kariya Matou, my new Master."

Next, Giorno had to heal the crest worms from Kariya. When he placed his hands on Kariya's now bare chest, he spoke the name of his stand, and a golden light played out in front of him.

Kariya Matou had never felt such pain in his life. It was all encompassing pain. He could feel the pure amount of _life_ entering his body, eliminating all of the crest worms in his frail body. The man would never be back to his original self, but at the very least he would feel no more agonizing pain from the damned worms.

He passed out with a smile, knowing that the chance to save Sakura was drawing ever closer.

* * *

><p>Giorno stared down the body of his new master. Luckily, if everything went right, Kariya would be passed out for a few days, so Giorno had free reign to do whatever he pleased. Because of his master's low magic signature, no one would discover him in that dark alley. Giorno, using Gold Experience, hid the alley behind a wall of hedges, and left the alley, content in confronting servants directly now. He had to end this war, and soon. He would not allow another child to cry.<p>

The servant Archer felt the war was drawing quickly to a close. He had let Lancer die to allow for Berserker's defeat, and he had taken out Assassin personally, he was almost disappointed he was only directly responsible for one death.. The only servants who remained was him, Rider, Saber, and _Caster. _Rider would be a problem. His reality marble was not a direct attack on him, so he could not Requiem it out of existence. His thoughts were interrupted by a massive explosion of prana near the Fuyuki Park.

Quicky racing over, he spotted Caster on one end of the bridge, Kirei nowhere in sight. On the opposite, he spotted Rider with Waver. At least one master was brave enough to fight by his servants side. He also noticed Saber staring at him. When their eyes met, she immediately broke her stare, more content to look at the two servants. Giorno's eyes swept back over to Caster, and noticed his army of golems. The army was easily the size of Riders and it seemed that the servant of Kirei did not care about keeping his magic a secret. He couldn't hear what was being said, but he saw Waver's normally timid expression turn resolute, and Iskanders mouth widened.

"Ionian Hetairoi - BEHOLD MY PEERLESS ARMY."

The desert appeared again before the gathered servants, sealing them off from the outside world, Rider's army standing in front of them. Now was not the time to be shocked or awed, he had a war to win, and he had a feeling tonight, the curtain was closing.

He appeared before Rider and Waver, startling neither of them. Although Waver was technically older than him in this world, he still was an imposing figure, even with all of his posing. The servant stared up at Alexander, and the Rider stared back. With a hearty laugh, Rider clasped the Archers hand and shook it.

"It has been fun, Archer! I hope to see you again in my future conquests!"

The flamboyant servant smirked, and walked toward Waver.

"Waver, I wish you and your servant good luck."

"Thank you, Archer." Waver said, without fear. It seemed the man grew a backbone.

He walked past the pair, bidding them farewell, without words. Waver followed the Archer's gaze, and saw the servant of the sword staring at the servant. With another pose, the Boss of Passione move toward Saber, for reasons unknown. Rider opened a "door" in the marble, with Giorno and Arturia being released. Rider smirked, and with a shout charged at Caster's army. Two peerless armies, clashing together for a single wish. Walking away, Giorno closed his eyes and frowned, he already knew the outcome of this battle.

* * *

><p>"Saber..." The man known as Giorno Giovanna said, trying to speak over the clash of weapons.<p>

They were alone in the park now, Rider and Caster nowhere to be seen.

Saber released her sword's 'Invisible Air', revealing the brilliant blade beneath it, and slowly approached him, her face set in an expression of steel to rival his own.

"Archer… someone such as you should not even have been summoned by the grail; you are unworthy of possessing this miracle!" Saber declared, prana building up within her, she would see his cold stare cut down, and with it her wish would be in reach.

He was wrong, Rider was wrong, a tyrants rule can not be justified, she wasn't wrong, she couldn't be wrong, she wouldn't allow it.

"Worthy? That concept is meaningless to me; I have a wish that can only be granted by a 'miracle' and thus I have no choice, I must win the grail, for my dream." He paced to the left and her to the right, the circled each other, growing slightly closer with each pass. "You say you'd sacrifice yourself for your wish, yes?"

"Of course, it is the only just course of action." She replied, her sword nearly in range of him now.

"But what good, I wonder, is a wish you yourself won't be around to see?" Her wish didn't matter to him, she was merely another obstacle in the way of his 'dream', he would step over her, and anyone else who got in his way. Her stubbornness to admit she was wrong however, bothered him for unknown reasons.

"Hah?!" Saber couldn't accept his words; he might as well have been speaking gibberish.

"If you sacrifice yourself to save your country, who then would lead it, a country with no ruler would surely fall in short order, Saber!" He tried to get through to her senses, to punch through her twisted ideals, but she remained firm. "Besides, while the Brittan you led is gone, it rose again; even more powerful than before and still remains in some form today, is that not all a king could ask for?"

"Be silent, you false king, you can not imagine what it means to lead a nation to its own destruction!" She tightened the grip on her blade and grit her teeth. "Now come, let us finish our fight from before and see who the world judges as is the one to hold the grail!"

"Very well, Saber," he raised his right hand to his chest and pulled on the heart shaped hole in his shirt, his left hand extended forward and down, his hair flowed in unseen wind. "Let's see if your 'resolve' can open the way!"

Saber rushed in with the burst of prana, sword held over her head. "Archer!"

"Muda muda!"

* * *

><p>And with that, the final fight between servants in this Grail War had begun.<p>

The first swing she dodged immediately, making Giorno overextend. She responded with a swing of her sword, the now not invisible sword striking his side. The servant of the bow uttered a few words, and he was sent flying in one direction.

Much to her surprise, he stood back up, unharmed. He rushed her, easily exceeding the speed normal humans could keep up with. "Wryyyyyy!"

The man shouted, arm outstretched, aiming directly for her chest. His speed was too great for her, and she took the hit dead on, the fist directly impacting against her torso armor. The petite servant was sent away, crashing into nearby trees. These two servants would destroy the park before they knew it.

Giorno stood still, reaching out to touch the branches of various trees, turning them into animals to distract Arturia. First it was simple rats, but the bigger the branch, the bigger the animal. Soon wolves, foxes, and various dogs were sent out. Arturia easily knocked them away, but it was still _something_.

Arturia was not in the mood to be defending herself from various animals. She wanted to see the strength of a man who had defied her ideals, one who would die for his own. She couldn't understand it, and perhaps she never will. But perhaps she would learn a bit more about this servant. This clash of ideals was a strange one, but not an unwelcome one. A battle she will remember for all eternity. Of course, if he would _stop with these damned animals._

Giorno could see that the Pendragon was losing more and more of her composure the more animals he sent. Perfect.

Saber noticed that Giorno was not in the same position he was in originally. Where then was h-. Her thoughts were interrupted however, when a punch had hit her clean in the face, knocking her to the ground. She was picked up by her collar, and thrown toward a nearby tree. Righting herself into the air, she pivoted on the tree, and launched herself toward the Boss. Each swing of her sword was blocked by Giorno's forearm, covered in a gold energy. She assumed this was the power of his Gold Experience.

Everytime the sword and gold energy clashed, sparks of life flashed around them. As they both twirled in this dangerous dance, Saber couldn't help but smirk whenever Giorno would pose. It was subtle, but after every strike, the strange servant made minute changes to his posture, making him "pose" as if he was a model on a runway. Not one to be outdone, she began to do the same. The dangerous dance becoming a ridiculous battle of posing.

Giorno's eyes shone with something he could not even decipher. He had not had a battle like this in quite so time. When he noticed his opposite posing alongside him, every strike changing her appearance, he smiled. A genuine smile bloomed over his features.

The servants kept clashing, their ideals grinding against each other. Whoever was victorious in this fight, would gain not only the grail, but their own values and ideals would come up on top. Giorno fought for himself, wanting to complete this endless journey toward his dream. He would honor the memories of his friends and foes alike by achieving his wish, and would stop at nothing to gain it. Arturia on the other hand, fought for her kingdom, wanting to rewrite history in order for her people to be happy. She fought for her people, but was selfish in the fact that her people had already died out, and a new force had taken over. They both had flaws, and both had enough power to achieve this dream. A dream for their people.

Golden light flashed across the sky, acting as sparks whenever the sword would clash with Giorno's arm. Saber could not help but notice how unorthodox this servant really was. Here she was fighting a serious battle against a man dressed in the most bizarre garb, fighting with his fists instead of a bow. She smiled, if this man was part of her round-table, the grail would have surely been theirs.

Giorno could not help but notice how annoying fighting this servant was. Arturia was extremely powerful, matching each of his strikes with one of her own. If she had been with him since the beginning, fighting Diavolo, the position of Boss would certainly have been his.

The battle came to a crescendo when Saber jumped back. Close enough that Giorno could still see her, but far enough that he couldn't immediately launch himself at her. They were separated by only meters, but to Giorno, it felt like a mile. Then, he felt an immense prana buildup.

"Let us see how your ideals protect you, Giorno Giovanna." Arturia Pendragon whispered, preparing to unleash her most powerful phantasm. The golden energy that gathered at the tip of her sword was immense, and in a single swing, she released it. The sheer _power_ of the attack was evident in the fact that it could be seen for miles.

Giorno's eyes widened, this was Excalibur then? He closed his eyes and smiled.

"Let us see how powerful your ideals are, Arturia Pendragon." Giorno Giovanna whispered, preparing to unleash his most powerful phantasm. The golden energy that gathered at the tip of his arm was immense, and in a single swing, he released it. The sheer _power_ of the attack was evident in the fact that it could be seen for miles.

"Ex-"

"Gold"

"-Cali-"

"Experience"

-Bur!"

"Requiem!"

The two powerful noble phantasms clashed. The immense strength of the fae, against the cancelling power of Gold Experience Requiem. Massive amounts of golden energy was discharged, disabling power all over the city, the only light coming from the combined attack. Normally, Requiems ability would render _any_ attack to zero. However, Arturia's magic resistance was of a high caliber, and thus, with the strength of Excalibur behind it, cut through Gold Experience Requiem.

Giorno stared down at his body. Saber stared as well. Although there was no real damage, only the clothes were a bit ripped, the power of the scene was significant. A shadow was cast over Giorno's eyes.

"Go ahead."

Saber was timid at first, not sure what to do. But soon, with her mind made up, she ran past the still servant.


	8. Chapter 7

-Chapter 7: Beginning-

He stood still in that moment, still staring down at his torn clothes. Had his ideals not been enough? Was his strength not enough? All these thoughts swirled in his head, the self-doubt accumulating faster and faster. He had _lost._ The invincible power of his Requiem was not enough. Saber was stronger, but why? A naive girl with naive ideals had beaten him. Giorno Giovanna ideals could not hold up it seemed. He steeled himself. If he was going to lose, he would lose with pride. However, his eyes quickly tracked over to where he and Saber had been ejected out of the marble. There, stood the two servants, the reality marble crumbling around them. Riders sword was embedded in the breast of Caster, however, Caster and his Golems had impaled the King of Conquerors as well. Rider spoke a few words to his master. Waver stood resolute, but he could tell the boy was crying. Both servants disappeared, ending Iskander's dream of conquest.

Giorno sighed, this war was getting more and more depressing. His thoughts quickly turned to anger however, as he saw his new sworn enemy, Kirei Kotomine, enter the church. Did the man not even care that his servant had been slain? No matter. Although he took a moment to get ready, Giorno Giovanna steeled his body, and followed the now servant-less master into the Theater.

Once inside, Giorno noticed how opulent the area was, truly a good place for a final showdown. He then noticed that Kirei was looking at another. Tokiomi had told him of this man, and that he was extremely dangerous. The Magus Killer as he was called, Kiritsugu Emiya.

However, something was wrong. The Magus Killer was covered in a strange mud, and looked like he was about to keel over at any second. Kirei was looking at Saber's master strangely and Giorno decided to act, and swung himself into the fray. Launching at Kirei, he gave a shout.

"Wrrrrrrry!" and with a punch that Giorno knew would surely kill Kirei, the killer of his master was sent flying, being pushed out of the Theater.

Giorno noticed that Kiritsugu had returned to the realm of the living, and went deeper into the Theater, no doubt to claim the grail. Following after him, he spotted Saber making her way toward the holy object. Its opulence was obvious, the grail looked like it belonged to a king. However, Giorno was quick at noticing small details, and he did notice that the Emiya had not made a move since he entered the room.

Giorno went down toward the grail, standing dangerously close.

"A-Archer!? You dare stand in my way again?"

"I wish to see the king claim her victory."

Saber shook her head, and approached the grail. That is of course, when the King of Knights started to shake.

"Wh—what is this—What do you want to do!?"

Giornos eye's widened, the power of Excalibur once again coming to bear its power. The golden light traveled up the sword, but Archer noticed something was wrong. There was a wild look in Saber's eyes, and her entire frame shook as if she was crying. The King roared in anger, and appeared to be resisting something.

"Why?! Kiritsugu—Why did it have to be you!?"

Giorno looked up at the master, and finally noticed the source of Saber's troubles. The vacant stare almost sent shivers down his spine, but then he saw the command seals being used.

"Are you trying to destroy the grail!?" Giorno had shouted, not even aware of his surroundings.

"Stop!"

Saber was still thrashing when she attacked the grail, the power of the attack being too much for her physical body. The beam she had wrought had destroyed much of the theater.

"Maybe...my ideals were not strong enough.." With that, she closed her eyes, her prana completely spent, and she vanished.

Giorno was cut off from the world, the black mud completely engulfed the servant, dragging him into its nightmare, and he felt nothing but horrific suffering. Angra Mainyu had been released onto the helpless servant, and he could do nothing, the immense power of all the world's evils invaded every aspect of his being, violating him from inside.

'_It hurts, it hurts, it kills it dies. Die, die diediediedieDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE"_

The servant's mind was filled with overwhelming hatred he could not escape, it tore at his thoughts; it ripped into his soul like nothing he could have ever imagined. He understood instantly why the Magus Killer had forced Saber to destroy the grail; he had experienced this and somehow escaped, a testament to his willpower as an ordinary human.

"_PAIN, DIE, KILL, SUFFER"_

Through the mental and physical pain, Giorno Giovanna screamed out three words, almost purely on instinct, his senses long eroded, _"GOLD EXPERIENCE _REQUIEM!"

Golden light embraced his body, clashing with the darkness of Angra Mainyu. He had already been consumed by the world's evils, but he wouldn't surrender even if he died, he _would_ reach his dream, his ideals that had lost to Saber's Excalibur refused to lose here. Though not targeting a direct attack, his last remaining willpower forced his unthinkable power within himself, shattering the darkness that took root.

Giorno escaped the black mud, which had all but vanished when he came to, but what hadn't been erased, was the nightmarish scenario that had engulfed the city.

Immediately, the servant noticed that he was surrounded by hellish fire, with equally hellish screams. He trudged through however, and came across two figures. He immediately recognized the form of Kiritsugu, but it was the second body that caught his attention. The Emiya had placed something into the boy, and the moment Kiri caught his eye, he motioned Giorno over.

"You, please… I don't think I have much time left, just listen to me for a moment." The Magus Killer, once one of the most feared names in this war, was on the verge of death, his voice was extremely weak, and his body was trembling uncontrollably.

"We've been enemies throughout this war; you destroyed the Grail against the wishes of your own servant, why should I listen to what you have to say?"

"If you have any compassion as a heroic spirit, I beg you, save this boy, I-if I can at least save one person, maybe…" his voice trailed off, he closed his eyes, his face full of regret.

"Why this boy, what makes him worth saving?" Giorno inquired, kneeling down besides Kiritsugu,

"He is… The only one left, I've looked everywhere, only this boy survived the damage."

Giorno raised an eyebrow at the Magus Killer's words, this young boy had the will to survive in a hellish blaze that tested even his own limits? He was suddenly intrigued by what else he could survive, this was worth investigating.

Giorno nodded to the desperate man, "I will do everything in my power to save him, you have my word as the Boss of Passione."

"T-thank goodness," Kiritsugu closed his eyes for the last time, his face content, the fire soon engulfed him, and the legend of the Magus Killer was no more.

Giorno Giovanna did not crack his cold exterior as he bent down to inspect the boy. The boy was still conscious, and was staring directly at him. He materialized the arrow allowed his summoning as Archer in one hand, The power he had obscured from Tokiomi, that arrow that was not a weapon would finally find it's use.

If the boy had survived this inferno, then maybe...He would soon find out if he possessed true willpower to not only survive, but _live. _Without fanfare, he shoved the arrow into the boy's chest. The boy did not flinch; he did not even thrash around, and simply stared calmly at the blackening sky.

Giorno smirked, picked up the boy, and fled the scene.

Far away, in an alley, a master died in his sleep. The power of his servant's final attack had been too much for him, and it overloaded his body. He died with a smile, dreaming as if he saved everyone.

* * *

><p>The next day, it was reported that there were over 500 casualties, and 134 buildings had been turned to ash.<p>

Giorno stared at Fuyuki City from its outskirts, the boy resting by a nearby tree. The boy lost consciousness almost immediately after Giorno picked him up. Many strange things had happened to the unknown child. The boy's musculature changed subtly, though how it would effect him in the future was unknown, his hair had changed from a bright red, to a bright gold, much like Giorno's own.

When Shirou woke up, he immediately thought back to the fire. He did not scream though, so his vacant expression was unnoticed by Giorno. He stared up at his strange saviour, wondering what the hell he was wearing.

Meanwhile, Giorno's own mind was deep in thought. He flexed his hand tightly. He was human.

Human?

He was confused, how had he become human? No matter, if he was human, that means that he would have to eat, sleep, and do other menial tasks. Maybe he could teach the boy how to cook? Perhaps. His thoughts were fast and erratic, until he heard the boy cough a bit.

"Oh, awake already?" The now human Giorno Giovanna looked down at the boy. "A recovery like that tells me exactly what I need to know of your 'willpower'."

The boy looked somewhat confused. "Who are you?" He asked; his voice still weak.

"Well get to that in time, boy," Giorno knelt down beside him. "But first, what is your name?"

"S-shirou," the boy; Shirou, seemed to strain his thoughts to come up with the answer."

"Do you not have a last name?" Giorno inquired.

"I-I can't remember it."

"No matter, from now on, you will be Shirou Giovanna, and I will be your Boss."

Shirou frowned. "What are you the boss of exactly, and what's with Giovanna?"

The strange man smiled, "I am Giorno Giovanna, gang-star and Boss of Passione."

"G-gangster?!" Shirou tried to pull away, but was too weak, or possibly too scared, to get back on his feet.

"No boy, gang-star, there is a difference, one you'll soon learn if you wish me to teach you to use your 'power', and become one yourself"

With that, a spark of a dream had been implanted into the boy, a wish had been set. Shirou Giovanna would become a gang-star.

"P-power?" the boy asked, half curious and half scared. What kind of power was something you could give to another?

"The exact nature of your power is determined by your own 'resolve', how it takes shape is beyond my control, but I'll say this, it is an unrivaled power not of this world."

The conversation was cut short, when reality _rippled_ in front of the pair, and Saber stepped out.

Wait.

What.

On a second look. Giorno noticed that this was in fact _not_ the same Saber, although she looked almost identical. Her posture was different, and her armor was completely white, missing the normal blue accents.

"You, who are an affront to Gaia, prepare to meet your end by Arturia Pendragon, counter guardian of Alaya." It was blunt and forward. It seemed that the servant Saber had a hidden secret, which not even she was aware of.

"So even the world itself wishes for my death? Truly an opponent worthy of the Boss, I'll take you on."

"Be silent and accept your death, aberration." Her tone was dull and lifeless, nothing like the proud servant he had fought just hours before.

Giorno stepped in front of his new recruit, if he died right after he showed such potential, it would be quite a waste. He took up a fighting stance and launched himself at the counter guardian.

"Wryyyyyy!"


	9. Interlude - Training Days

-Interlude: Training Days-

Four years had passed since that day; the Gang-Star had finally began to settle into his new world. The boy he had rescued and granted unthinkable power still remained at his side as he traveled the world, mostly Japan. The boy had managed to manifest a full Stand within a few years, but maintaining it was another matter, the disaster he survived had ruined his constitution, so most of his training now was to strengthen his weakened body, with some hand to hand training on the side.

As Stand powers reflect the mentality of the user, the boy had created a sort of chant he repeated when he used it, it seemed to help him focus the Stand, each line added made its form more clear.

As for Giorno, a new gang had started to form around him, he had not even tried create one, it just happened during his travels. He was suddenly thrust back into a leadership position, and could once again truly call himself the boss. This newfound gang however had quite a few problems, the first was money, and the second was a constant need for Giorno to monitor them as the boss.

They were in an empty construction site that had been abandoned for several months due to the project funding falling through; it had a remote location well suited to their needs.

"Let's begin, call forth your Stand." Giorno posed and awaited his apprentice, despite no longer having a Stand in the same sense he had when alive, fusing with it still allowed him to see other stands.

"Alright, I'll beat you this time Boss!" Shirou excitedly copied Gio's pose, and loudly shouted the Stand's name, "Unlimited Blade Works!" The boy had a bad habit of being too loud, maybe his hearing was damaged in the fire, he should look into that.

The young Gang-Star in-training had his stand form behind him, facing slightly away from either of them with its arms cross and its legs spread wide. It possessed the vague shape of a human, but every aspect of it was created from swords, various blades and hilts stuck out of it.

The main body of the Stand was formed of generic western swords, but visible in a few gaps through the generic swords shone a brilliant array of swords, spears, bows, all sorts of ornate weapons existed within it.

At first Giorno couldn't grasp what was happening, until he and Shirou had encounter a rogue magus with an ornate mystic code in the form of a sword, and that same sword had appeared within Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works, though it was an inferior copy.

The boy's Stand could replicate any weapon he saw, including magical items, if he could copy Noble Phantasms or not was unclear, he couldn't copy the Excalibur wielded by the Counter Guardian version of Saber they had encountered at the end of the war, and several times since.

The stand reached it's sword like hands into its body, and at near light speed pulled out endless generic western style long swords, which it threw at Giorno who remained completely stationary.

Each throw was followed by the stand creating a metallic sound, evidently its 'voice', which created a harsh "Kiri!" much like Giorno's old stand would vocalize a repeated "Muda".

Unlike Giorno Stand, which could create life from inanimate objects, Shirou's stand was able to produce swords out of nothing; as soon as they left the Stand's body they were real world objects that were unconnected to the stand.

"Kirikirikirikiri~!" The Stand's cry, like two swords constantly crashing against one another, intensified as the barrage of swords filled Giorno's vision.

The velocity of the sword was nothing to laugh at, but Giorno still possessed the EX agility of a servant, he weaved around the blades in a blur, turning each into a harmless plant. The Elder Giovanna was surrounded in a newly created forest in the construction site, not a single blade so much as cutting him.

Shirou's face strained as he desperately tried to keep the assault going, but in the end his Stand faltered for a moment and Giorno rushed forward and flicked the boy on the forehead.

"Five points, try harder." Giorno placed his hand on the boy's head, he had never expected it, but he'd actually grown to see him as more than just an ally, he genuinely cared for him, though he would rarely show it on his face.

The peaceful lull between training was cut short, as a white flash cut between them, a powerful blast of wind knocked Shirou back but Giorno remained standing.

The rude interruption was caused by one Counter Guardian Arturia Pendragon, who after failing to eliminate Giorno four years ago, had shown up at least once a week to try again. It seemed that after Giorno's Requiem impacted her in the fight back then, she had been severed from the world's direct control, but out of her honor as a hero had continued to execute her mission.

"Haaaahh!" She rushed at Giorno, ignoring the prone Shirou completely, her blade danced around the Gang-Star, who posed as he sidestepped every attack.

"Muda Muda, you'll never reach me like that, Saber!" he taunted, parrying a strike with his bare hand.

"My name is not Saber, it is Arturia, you aberration!" she charged in again, but still missed, every blow missed degraded her will to fight, to the point where she finally stopped.

It was at this moment that Giorno noticed Shirou had hidden himself behind a pile of wooden boards; he sighed and walked over to the boy, who he dragged out into the open.

"What did I say about running away?" he asked.

"G-Gang-Star's don't hide." Shirou repeated the words Giorno had said to him before, his voice still shaking, he was only twelve after all. "Stand firm in your resolve, and you can't fail!"

Shirou, suddenly filled with confidence, struck the first half of a pose Giorno had shown him, Giorno responded by entering the second half of the pose, when complete it was so blindingly fabulous that the Counter Guardian retreated, or maybe she was going to leave anyways and just took this chance to escape.

* * *

><p>Shortly after the now commonplace attack, Giorno approached Shirou, they had returned to a small hotel room they had been staying in the last few days.<p>

"I'm returning to Fuyuki for a few days, I know how it was last time for you, but I can't just leave you here."

"F-Fuyuki?" Shirou was taken off guard. "Why do we have to go back there, I don't wanna." He remembered his last memory of the city, a nightmare he had only recently stopped having.

"I need to see how the gang is progressing without me; an absent Boss is no Boss at all."

With that, Shirou reluctantly began packing his things; mostly clothing, they didn't talk again that day.

* * *

><p>The morning sun nearly blinded Giorno when he stepped out of the train, Shirou following slowly behind, dragging a suitcase about as large as him.<p>

It had been almost a year since they last came here and made it the gang's base of operations. While there was already a local yakuza in the city, Giorno choose this location anyways in order to monitor the site of the Holy Grail War. He had no idea when a new war would start, the average time being around 80 years he'd heard, but none had ended with the grail's vessel destroyed like that, so anything was possible, this land therefore became high priority.

Giorno's unwanted gang of wannabe gangsters had served a decent use as his eyes in the city; they had followed him after encountering him on his travels, his natural charisma causing them to latch on.

Sending Shirou to a local hotel, he walked out into the city, sensing Arturia close behind. He was going to visit one of his gang's hotspots, and he hoped that they had increased their ability at least _somewhat._

So when he came to a small unassuming warehouse in the middle of the night, and found half of his gang out cold, with the other half seemingly missing, Giorno was not a happy Boss.

He had instilled into his gang, aptly named Passione Act Two, many of his ideals. One such ideal was to never run away from a fight. It seems that half of his gang had broke a cardinal rule. Just then, a swarm of Yakuza was sent in, surrounding Giorno.

"Oh, what's this, a lone hero come to save his brothers? You should have skipped town when you had the chance boy." An older man stepped out of the crowd, wearing a tiger print kimono, his stature quite clearly showed him as the leader of the Yakuza.

He approached Giorno and crossed his arms, had he been anyone else this man's presence may have intimidated him, but he'd stared down far more threatening men before.

"I am Giorno Giovanna, the boss of Passione Act Two." He struck his signature pose as he spoke. "Tell me, would you like to make a bet?"

"Hoh, what sort of 'bet'?" The man was taken far too easily; the rest of the encounter would play out exactly as Giorno willed it, it was all too simple to manipulate human emotions.

"Pick your top three men, If I defeat them myself you'll allow my gang to remain in whatever territory they've already conquered, and grant myself and my gang one property of yours, preferably in a residential area."

The man scowled at Giorno. "Why would I make that bet, I gain nothing from it."

Giorno had expected this, and began phase two of his manipulation, which utilized his cold expression to the fullest.

"Then, I'll be forced to invade your territory with the full force of my gang; this was merely a group of rookies." He bluffed; his face giving no tells he was lying. "I don't think you want a full scale gang war on your hands, it's bad for business, am I right?"

The man's expression soured ever more, he returned to his men and came back a few moments later, three others following, two men and one young woman.

"Very well, I accept, when you lose this foolish bet you and your gang will stay out of my city, you here me?" His voice was cold, as expected from a Yakuza leader, Giorno nodded in agreement.

"Are these my opponents?" he asked, glancing between the three who stood beside the old man, the two men were large, carrying wooden swords. The girl caught him off guard, she was young, younger than him even, dressed in a school uniform and carrying a Kendo sword, a bamboo shinai.

Something caught his eye on the shinai's hand guard, on closer inspection it was a small plastic tiger hanging off a strap, he had to admit it added a slight charm to the thing.

"Hoh hoh, you're unlucky today boy, I hadn't expected her to be here, she's not a formal member and I'm always telling her not to get involved, but she's a terrible listener." The man's deep laugh bellowed through the warehouse. "Say hello to your ruin, Taiga Fujimura, my granddaughter!"

The man's confidence in this small girl piqued Giorno's interest, maybe this fight would be more interesting then he thought. Everyone but Giorno and his three opponents backed off, and the two men rushed in, Giorno remained motionless.

Two wooden swords cut through the air towards Giorno, a moment before they hit him, he was no longer there, and the men looked around surprised, unable to keep up with his movements. Giorno reappeared behind them, driving his hands into the backs of their necks in two swift chops, they didn't stand back up.

The absurd scene had sent the yakuza into shock, but the girl before him was unaffected, a smile spread across her face as she rushed in, her shinai slicing at him with the precision movements of a professional swordsman.

None of the girl's attacks reached Giorno, but he was unable to reach her either. He was of course holding back, if he went all out this girl would be dead in seconds, but that would only cause him more problems. It was still a testament to her skill, were he a normal man he'd have lost almost instantly, his EX agility being the only thing keeping him from taking a hit.

His original plan was to wait for her human level endurance to run out, but her ferocity was exciting him, he wanted to push her further. Instead of dodging the next attack he grabbed it in his hand, he poured life into the blade with Gold Experience, just enough to turn it to a living thing for a split second. Something went wrong.

The Bamboo sword did not fault in it's form, it seemed to absorb his life energy into itself, the blade glowed faintly to him, though it was possibly his imagination, as no one else reacted to it.

The girl ripped the blade from his grip and swung it sideways at him, it's speed was far higher then any of her blows before, was this a side effect of what had just happened? Giorno had no time to think of the possibilities behind this, and moved purely on instinct, he knocked the blade out of her hands with his left, and his right lashed out and grasped her throat.

The grandfather of the girl and leader of the yakuza could feel Giorno's murderous intent from there, saw the look of terror on her face, and came to a decision in a split second.

"Enough, enough!" he shouted, rushing out of the crowd to face Giorno, who released the girl as he came to his senses, the girl fell to her knees, coughing and clutching her throat. "I surrender, you won the bet and on my honor, I'll keep my word."

The older man bowed and helped the girl to her feet; she seemed more upset that she'd lost the fight then that she'd momentarily been in real danger, he sighed.

"I know exactly the property to cede to you; we gained it after the fire four years ago, it should suit your needs well. As for the other half of your bet, this warehouse is the only territory your gang is currently in control of, so we will leave it to you."

Although the older man went through with the deal, he had more nefarious reasons to give it to him. Allowing the boy to have access to a certain estate and this certain warehouse, this "Passione Act Two" could be watched carefully. His men were the best of the best, and could easily spy on the boy's gang. It was a flicker, but the old man thought he saw a woman dressed in all white by the entrance, but when he blinked, she was gone.

Giorno nodded, and walked out of the warehouse, unfollowed, the members of his gang still knocked out.

* * *

><p>"Tch"<p>

Giorno returned to the hotel room to find that Shirou was already fast asleep. Glancing at the clock, he noticed that it _was _pretty late. Oh well, no rest for the wicked. He shoved the boy out of his bed, he had training to do.

"Wah!" the boy yelled, shaking his now injured head. "What was that for boss?"

Giorno looked down at the Giovanna and smirked a cruel smirk. The boy gulped, he knew that look.

"We are going to the park."

"T-the park?" The boy whispered, dread filling every pore of his body.

"You must face your fear directly Shirou, or else your stand will never be as powerful as it can be." The boy's eyes widened. In the four years Giorno had been training him, he had never used his first name. Always calling him boy or child. Shirou nodded slowly, trepidation filling him.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of getting dressed, they set off into the night, toward where the destruction of the grail had ripped apart the surrounding park. Giorno help nothing back when he first spoke to the boy, telling Shirou of his heritage, his powers, magecraft, and the world they currently resided.<p>

Shirou reacted strongly, as an eight year old child, it was hard to take in. Even four years later he still had trouble adjusting to Giorno's strict methods. He knew his Boss meant the best, but sometimes he felt it was too much. He had to improve his stand, so he could face off against the creatures of this Moonlit World. The younger Giovannas thoughts settled when they came upon the graveyard of over 500 people.

A cold breeze swept through the park, the evil of the grail still tainting the nature around it. Shirou shivered, while Giorno stood still, staring at his younger ward.

A certain blonde hair counter guardian smiled.

The young boy stepped forward into the park, the same park that destroyed his past self. The park swallowed Shirou, covering him in the darkness that had swept everyone else away. In that moment, his stand was complete. He had found his aria.


End file.
